Here are two great videos of news reports on high stakes testing – one from Australia and one from New York. Both should be compulsory viewing. Don’t miss them and send the links to colleagues.
Videos on High Stakes Testing
//Category: League Tables and Testing
//Students Got Raffle Tickets to do NAPLAN
//Some schools offered students special inducements to do the NAPLAN tests last week. One Tasmanian school offered free breakfasts, raffle tickets and lunch and a movie with a teacher to encourage students to do the tests. Tasmanian education officials also organised an award ceremony with dignitaries and media for the best performing students in NAPLAN 2012. Continue reading “Students Got Raffle Tickets to do NAPLAN”
A Day in the Life of NAPLAN
//Some stories about NAPLAN this week from one government school in Canberra. Continue reading “A Day in the Life of NAPLAN”
Study Shows Schools Rorting Test Results
//My School has turned the NAPLAN tests into “high stakes” tests. They are high stakes because school reputations are now made and broken on the results posted on the My School website and in league tables of school results published in newspapers. The careers of school principals and teachers are now also affected by school NAPLAN results.
More Stories About NAPLAN
//Stories from another Canberra public school about NAPLAN tests. Continue reading “More Stories About NAPLAN”
Conspiracy of Silence About the Right to Withdraw Children from NAPLAN Tests
//The public education group Save Our Schools has accused education authorities of failing to inform parents about their right to withdraw their children from the NAPLAN tests which begin Tuesday. Trevor Cobbold, national convenor of SOS, said there is a “conspiracy of silence” about parents’ right to withdraw their children. Continue reading “Conspiracy of Silence About the Right to Withdraw Children from NAPLAN Tests”
Canberra Private School Sets a Great Example on NAPLAN
//A Canberra private school has sent the following letter to parents about the NAPLAN tests. It sets a great example for other schools in dealing with NAPLAN and informing parents that they can withdraw their child from the tests.
Continue reading “Canberra Private School Sets a Great Example on NAPLAN”
Yes, There is Something Fishy About NAPLAN (and My School)
//A social media outcry last week forced the withdrawal of a television commercial linking a children’s fish-extract supplement to success in the NAPLAN tests.
Continue reading “Yes, There is Something Fishy About NAPLAN (and My School)”
More Evidence that Test-Based Accountability Narrows the Curriculum
//A new academic study has found that test-based accountability measures in the United States have narrowed the curriculum in schools. A statistical analysis published in the latest issue of Education Evaluation and Policy Analysis concludes that there is strong evidence that class time devoted to mathematics and English has increased while the share going to science and social studies has decreased in response to school accountability measures. Continue reading “More Evidence that Test-Based Accountability Narrows the Curriculum”
ACARA Head is Mistaken on Test-Based Accountability
//In an article in The Canberra Times, the Chief Executive of the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), Robert Randall mistakenly claimed that Australia has avoided US-style consequences from high stakes testing.
Randall conceded that Save Our Schools is correct in pointing to the United States as “an example of what can happen when test results are used for inappropriate purposes and when money – whether for individual teachers, principals or entire school districts – rides on good results.”
However, Randall asserted that this is not a problem in Australia because “we do not have bonuses for schools or teachers based on NAPLAN results”. He said: “We know how to avoid distortions of the type seen in the US and we are, as a nation, avoiding them”.
Randall is quite mistaken. Australia is clearly heading down the path of test-based accountability for states, schools and teachers. The Federal Government is leading the way. Continue reading “ACARA Head is Mistaken on Test-Based Accountability”