NCLB and testing/retention requirements

We are seeing no more retentions than before NCLB. There are loopholes, ya know.

Of course, our state has the first “gateway” at THIRD grade, which is far too late to retain if one expects the extra year to do any good. The gateway needs to be after first grade. That’s where the essential reading skills are taught (if they are taught, that is).

Janis

I’m a school counselor just moved to FL— FL now has 3rd graders that have been retained TWICE because they couldn’t pass the FCAT. There are ways to avoid retention, something called a “preponderance of evidence” indicating that the child should not be retained, or if they are making progress towards IEP goals… I’m too new to give more than a “knee jerk” opinion on this practice. Stay tuned.

In Texas, the percentage of 3rd grade kids retained is the same as it was before the high stakes 3rd grade test was established two years ago.

The first group of 3rd graders are 5th graders this year and they will have to pass a 5th grade test.

No one is too surprised that the 3rd grade rate remained the same because 3rd graders have always had high scores on the state test (it’s been around for 12+ years but without high stakes implications).

The scores drop as the kids get older so it will be more interesting in the future.

Last week the Orange County (Florida) School board unanimously passed a “rule” that any child in grade 3 through 8 who did not “pass” the FCAT could be retained. Makes me a little queasy just to write about it.

TX, I think 60 Minutes II (or was it the original) had a story about the so-called Texas Miracle. There was a girl and family they interviewed who
got retained in something like the 6th grade (there was a high stake test in 7th grade). She remained in that grade for 3 years and just skipped 7th grade. I’m quite sure the grades I mention are wrong, but the concept still stands.

—des

I’m not sure if that was Texas. This is the start of just the 3rd year of high stakes testing here and it’s only been the 3rd grade so far. This year starts the 5th grade. We have had no other high stakes testing, except for the graduation test.

Oh, okay, I went to the CBS website and read the story. That is about the fake drop out rates that Bush’s Education Secretary Paige put out when he was head of the Houston School District. He was praised and awarded (and promoted!) because of his oh so low drop out rates. Bush brags about him.

Course, there is always more to the story… One inner city school had zero drop outs and you know that can’t be true. So 60 minutes (and others) investigated and figured out they got the low drop out rates because they lied about where kids were going when they left. The real drop out rate is 50% in that particular school. Not 0%.

The part about the 9th grader repeating the 9th grade 3x and then skipping the 10th and going on to the 11th was to keep her out of the 10th grade year where they take their graduation exit test. Her score was expected to be low and they only wanted to test smart kids so their exit scores would be high. So, besides getting low scoring kids to drop out, they also did this little maneuver. This is just one of many little maneuvers that happen because of these high stakes tests.

Consider this when you go to the polls in November.

Not to specifically defend either Paige or Bush in this matter, but do we blame the Governor when local districts cheat or do we prosecute those who flout the authority of the Central Office and do so?

What has Kerry done during his tenure as Senator to stop the widespread problems in Sped in this country? Has he pushed for fully funding IDEA and related Fed mandates? Has he sponsored Legislation that is aimed at correcting the loopholes and oversights that have occured in the last 2 decades?

Neither party has done what they should have in this one field of public policy. IDEA and related Feds Laws and Regs have had broad bi-partisan support and also broad bi-partisan failure to fund at both Fed and State levels.

Personally, I would like to see the US DOE disbanded completely, the money wasted on these highly paid doorstops invested directly into specific programs designed to directly address specific needs in Sped, and enforcement of Law stripped from the State DOE’s and handed over to the DOJ with felony prosecution and punishment for those administrators caught willfully neglecting their duties.

Sometimes you have to roll some heads to get everyone to sit up and pay attention.

I don’t blame Bush for setting up the system (though I don’t much like the overtest thing and think it invites fraud among other things). What I blame him for is believing and quoting around the stats that there were no drop outs. I think one should look into such a claim.

—des