Maine Voices: Students vary too much to rely on testing
The newspaper's pleas for improvements based on scores is simplistic and ignores how worst-performing schools got that way.
By CHRIS GALGAY
AUGUSTA — These newspapers have a habit of seeking simple answers to complex problems in education; those answers are, unfortunately, usually wrong.
High school students’ abilities and knowledge can’t be measured adequately by standardized tests, a teachers’ union leader says.
Associated Press file photo
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chris Galgay (e-mail:cgalgay@nea.org) is president of the Maine Education Association, the union representing a majority of Maine’s public school teachers.
Thus, the editorial, "Bad grades bring good opportunities for schools" (Telegram, May 23), embraces one of the flaws embedded in the federal government's School Improvement Grant program.
The editorial says the student test scores being used to create the list for Maine's "low-performing schools" list are valid.
It says it is like getting a bad report card that should spur improvement by students and teachers. After all, what could possibly be wrong with evaluating school programs and student performance based on a single test, such as the Scholastic Aptitude Test or the Maine Educational Assessment?
What the paper fails to comprehend is the complexity that most teachers and schools face today. Let me convert it into the simple terms that you prefer.
Let's assume you take all the journalists in CEO Richard Connor's newspapers and give them a test on English usage and grammar. I would expect them to do well.
But, what if we gave the test to all of the employees in the organization, including the graphics, advertising and printing departments and the route carriers? Not surprisingly, the test scores would fall because that is not necessarily the skill set or knowledge base of those employees.
That is the situation in Houlton and Deer Isle, where the top students do well on the SATs but others do not, because they are going to work on the farm or at sea and the SAT is not germane to their skills and knowledge.
Conversely, let's give your journalists an exam on diagnosing and fixing a problem with a tractor motor or a marine engine. How would they do? Not as well.
Or, let's assume that we give a test to the journalists on mathematics, including algebra, geometry, trigonometry and calculus. How would they do?
Rather poorly, I expect, because that is not your area of interest or expertise. And, that may be the reason for poor SAT scores in Lakes Region High if students are tested on subjects beyond their knowledge base or interest.
Or, let's assume that the journalists take a grammar and vocabulary test in a foreign language like Spanish or Somali. How would they do?
Would they do as well as some of our students at the Riverton School in Portland or the Longley School in Lewiston, for whom English is a second language?
Or, let's suppose that we give the SAT exam to all MaineToday Media employees, including those who just received a layoff notice. What will that do to the average test score?
It will plummet, just as it does in small high schools like Sumner or Carrabec in North Anson where a few disaffected students can sleepwalk through an exam and ruin the test score average because they see the SAT as irrelevant.
Or, let's assume that we give the SAT exam to MTM employees who have just had a death in the family or a divorce or have just been released from the hospital? How would they do? I imagine they would do about as well as our students who are abused, neglected or disadvantaged as they take the tests.
Educators do not dispute the need for appropriate testing; we do it all the time. We spend hours teaching and testing, reviewing and testing.
Testing is not easy, because students are human beings, with all their frailties -- not widgets on a production line.
Testing is a complex pedagogical science; I doubt any educators worth their salt can defend the use of the SAT or MEA in this manner. Their use as a means of fulfilling a School Improvement Grant requirement is a matter of expediency and the cynical pursuit of money and nothing more.
There are schools that need help and additional support, but using this definition for the 10 "lowest performing schools" tells our students that it is all about the money and that the ends justify the means.
Before you endorse the latest hare-brained idea out of Washington, I suggest you actually visit the schools labeled as "failures" and talk with the students, educators, parents and school board members about their programs.
They are the best judges of successful and unsuccessful schools and have excellent ideas for improving their programs.
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24 COMMENTS
jgetch said...
OK, let's talk to students, educators and parents and base school performance evaluations on what they say. But let's do it like this: what do middle school teachers, students, parents say about the child's readiness to do the work there upon leaving his or her elementary school? In other words, is the elementary school that child attended doing a good job of preparing all kids for the next level? Ask the same question at the high school: is the middle school doing a good job of preparing all kids for the next level? Lastly, evaluate the high school based on the proportion of kids who graduate, and how they do in college or in the work force. Now publish those results every year or every other year. Finally, let parents have the results and let them choose the schools they want their kids to attend, with vouchers that follow the students.
May 30, 2010 at 6:46 AM Report abuse
dilligaf said...
It's frustrating to see everyone bicker back and forth their concerns on a daily basis while everyone continues to ignore the "big white elephant" standing in the middle....parenting and accountability. Until these issues are addressed properly true progress will never be reached.
May 30, 2010 at 8:10 AM Report abuse
oldstudent said...
The author's point is so off base it is sad and the analogies used don't come close to being applicable to the situation. Students are not people that have been out of the system for many years and having different levels of education as in one of the author's analogy. There is nothing wrong with the tests, just people trying to get away from real-life accountability.
May 30, 2010 at 8:19 AM Report abuse
tiepair said...
I know that when I was back in school, I didn't take the MEA testing as seriously as I should have. There were times I'd just go through it, just to get it done, instead of putting the effort into answering correctly, or doing my best to do so... Not everyone takes standardized testing the same way. The format of it just makes it drag on, and on. I consider myself somewhat intelligent, but am not very good at taking standardized testing. I think it might be some sort of attention span issue, for me.
May 30, 2010 at 8:56 AM Report abuse
tiepair said...
Wow! Typing and watching TV, at the same time, doesn't make for good sentence structure. Sorry about that.
May 30, 2010 at 9:01 AM Report abuse
paradiselion said...
Skill-set, knowledge-base, test content,testing procedures, pre-testing conditions, do have bearing upon test results. Educators must identify a frame of fundamental parameters which all students must reach, after which they can be tested for higher knowledge skills. For example, if in grade school some children had failed in grade level comprehension, reading and writing and arithmetic, and then continued-on to high school without ever improving their skills in those areas, how could they excel in a high school tests whose performance depends on deficient fundamental areas in the first place? I agree with you that testing alone is not a gauge of student intelligence but is rather an indication of their level of preparation for demonstrating learned knowlegde and skills, and hence, aptitude to move on to higher grade knowledge. In addition, external factors such as family life, cultural influences, peer pressure, personal motivation and study habits also impact results.
May 30, 2010 at 9:59 AM Report abuse
common_cents said...
This has long been the whine of liberal parents of children who fail tests; and was the basis of the Portfolio movement---he smiles so well(aunt Selma, observation, dated). The 'problem' has been plastered over with the offering of free scholarships to any Maine student who can show a diploma; and the use of remedial courses at UMS to bring all these students up to grade level. Your writer must have missed the revolt of a few years ago of professors concerned with the 'dumbing down' of the curriculum to accommodate these 'failures'. Your editor apparently missed the uproar in Florida when they documented the 50% of incoming students to the U. of Florida system who spent their first year in remedial education classes, and then added a fifth and a sixth and even a seventh year to get a degree....ALL AT PUBLIC EXPENSE! ...but he has such a great smile....uh huh.
May 30, 2010 at 10:07 AM Report abuse
common_cents said...
Unfortunately, I became convinced that the hallmark of great urban education system was a staged meritocracy, as exemplified by New York City's which was crafted to integrated waves of immigrants into a ever more sophisticated network of schools. It is possible to enter the New York City schools as a non-English speaking immigrant from anywhere in the world; and end in world class business, technical, performing arts, design and other colleges. The key are the screening tests that only allow the best qualified to move into the specialty high schools and colleges. Instead of advancing students on merit, we have one based on 'other factors'; no wonder Maine got a 'D" in quality of teacher prep. from EDWEEK this year!
May 30, 2010 at 10:17 AM Report abuse
DorothyToto said...
The premise here is ridiculous. Another whining commentary from the union. Translation: keep sending public money and ask no questions and expect no results. Then the Union will be happy. The MEA does not reflect the opinions of all teachers. Pay no mind to the man behind the curtain.
May 30, 2010 at 10:45 AM Report abuse
paradiselion said...
common_cent Your points are well-taken regarding the failure of "remedial programs" and "dumbing down" of education to accommodate non-academic factors. It proves then that the educational crisis is more complex than merely a problem of "test-taking." These problems appear to plague what they call "poverty area schools" comprised mostly of urban Afro-American and Hispanic communities. I said that "In addition, external factors such as family life, cultural influences, peer pressure, personal motivation and study habits also impact results." However, I am not advocating so-called "social promotion" that allows graduation without academic competencies as was happening in Chicago and which the Mayor put a stop to. I am indicating that educational failure is multi-causal as the school itself is not an independent institution operating in isolation from the greater culture. There is too much fluffy political correctness going on, while science, math, etc., have lost ACADEMIC PRIORITY.
May 30, 2010 at 10:49 AM Report abuse
paradiselion said...
Common_cents Truth be told, it also seems that there are unspoken realities that underlie the educational crisis in affected neighborhoods, such as qualified and competent teacher shortages. The reality is that neighborhood layouts in our country are ethnically based. Meaning, as we often cringe to admit, that, generally, minority students will most probably be taught by minority teachers. And public schools are engaged in pushing students through the system in order to end up with a pool of available candidates who will fill projected need for teaching and other fields. Thus, since other teachers will not voluntarily assume these roles, the loop feeds upon the loop until a more constructive solution is found. Meanwhile, it is going to take decades to increase the level of achievement in these "proverty area schools" unless multi-causal factors that comprehensively impact academic results are lawfully addressed in a just and sense-making way.
May 30, 2010 at 11:18 AM Report abuse
U3RldmUw said...
Poor analogies: "That is the situation in Houlton and Deer Isle, where the top students do well on the SATs but others do not, because they are going to work on the farm or at sea and the SAT is not germane to their skills and knowledge. Conversely, let's give your journalists an exam on diagnosing and fixing a problem with a tractor motor or a marine engine. How would they do? Not as well." So is the author saying that teachers aren't teaching math and language--the stuff on the SAT? But the students will succeed on subjects (engine repair) that the school isn't teaching?
May 30, 2010 at 11:19 AM Report abuse
henryelm said...
"The author's point is so off base it is sad and the analogies used don't come close to being applicable to the situation". Well, if you aren't fluent in English, you are NOT going to pass a test given in English. If you aren't fluent in FRENCH you aren't going to pass a test given in French. That is the case at Riverton school. OVER 50% of the students do not have ENGLISH as their primary/first language. How long do you suppose it takes to become fluent in a language?? Fluent enough to pass a complex test??
May 30, 2010 at 12:08 PM Report abuse
henryelm said...
Could any of you pass a test given in a language, other then your own? Kids are expected to. WOULD that make YOU failing or"low achieving"??Or would it just mean you have a language barrier?? DO you think teachers have a magic wand they can wave and can say presto chango "Now you can speak english fluently enough to pass a complex test"?? How long would it take YOU to learn a NEW language and be fluent enough to take a complex test? One year? two?? FIVE?
May 30, 2010 at 12:17 PM Report abuse
henryelm said...
"The key are the screening tests that only allow the best qualified to move into the specialty high schools and colleges. Instead of advancing students on merit, we have one based on 'other factors'; no wonder Maine got a 'D" in quality of teacher prep. from EDWEEK this year!" It's called equal educational opportunity for ALL, not some.
May 30, 2010 at 12:24 PM Report abuse
henryelm said...
Isn't "ed week "that magazine that promotes vouchers and dismantluing of the public school system to privatize it?? a bit biased dont you think?? HMM? D in quality of teacher prep Does that mean that MOST schools don't allow the necessary teacher time to prepare FOR their classes because they have NO "free periods" to do so?? YUP I think so. Anti spenders(like common) consider "free time" to prepare a frill.
May 30, 2010 at 12:30 PM Report abuse
henryelm said...
EDWEEK headline THIS week "Bank giant offer financing to charter schools" just as I suspected, a BIT slanted in their VIEWS. Subscriptions: 50,000 just slightly more then the PPH.
May 30, 2010 at 12:55 PM Report abuse
Ayuh23 said...
Based on what I've read lately, I don't think many who comment could pass a standardized written exam. (there, they're, their, to, too, all the apostrophes....) The editing at the PPH is also sometimes subject to question. The problem with standardized tests is that the people who create them haven't been in a classroom lately (if at all) and are really good at writing questions and analyzing data, but they don't know kids. The assumption is that the kids are willing to take the tests and are doing their best. People who are quick to criticize the schools are expecting teachers to solve every problem known to mankind and teach the curriculum too - with a piece of chalk and a notepad. Schools are merely reflections of our culture. Look around you- what you see is what you get.
May 30, 2010 at 4:48 PM Report abuse
David said...
Frankly, standardized tests are the best way to test intelligence. Grades are too subjective, and often reward compliance, not brain power or creative thinking.
May 30, 2010 at 10:13 PM Report abuse
Chew said...
During my school years, it was generally accepted that a few teachers were head and shoulders above the rest in terms of their ability to actually teach. Thos figures were giants in my eyes and regardless of my likes or dislikes in subject matter, I learned much in their classes although my grades did not always reflect what I learned. Unfortunately, those wonderful personalities would probably not survive todays sterile and rule standardized teaching environment. Testing for intelligence and knowledge can be done effectively through standard procedures. It is the comparative and progressive results that are exceedingly difficult to quantify.
May 31, 2010 at 11:22 AM Report abuse
Chris said...
This op-ed mostly suggests that members of the MEA need to elect a new president who's more in tune with the expectations of state education officials, employers, as well as college and universities. Why let Chris Galgay continue to drag down the reputation of the MEA?
May 31, 2010 at 4:19 PM Report abuse
Hadley said...
Huh? By the second paragraph, I already suspected that this was a union response but as I started reading some of nonsensical analogies, I began to suspect the author knew absolutely nothing about education. Does the MEA propose not bothering to educate students that may be farmers or go to sea? I wonder if Mr. Galgay has ever taken the Miller Analogies test? Learning is to educational quality as teacher effectiveness is to potato farming?
June 1, 2010 at 8:52 AM Report abuse
windjammer said...
Student performance among other things is based on maturity-motivation and of course perfomance. My high school record was spotty at best. Did I do my best-nah. Did I have good teachers-absolutely. I just wasn't ready to apply myself. I did-somehow-managed to go to a non-Ivy League liberal Arts college and- later in grad school- I earned 2 degrees and I was deans list all the way. WHY? I grew up. In high school-I had 2 main interests-freshmen/sophmore girls and then juniors and senior girls. Then there was lobstering and later sailing...And what was I least interested in? To be honest with you-I don't remember-but I think it was academics.
June 1, 2010 at 5:28 PM Report abuse
Chew said...
But it is all about the money. if the vast majority of students graduating public school were literate, skilled in math, science, and life skills, and had the information necessary for them to be product in either continuing education or in the job market, nobody would care about testing. Tests are a way to supposedly validate expenditures, justify allocated dollars, and measure a ROI. The ultimate "test" is how Maine students find a good life after school because where they end up is directly tied to their education. When I see that Maine has a high rate of welfare, high unemployment, low average wages, higher than average poverty levels, higher than average health insurance, high heating costs, I suspect we may not be doing a quality job in educating our children who will become taxpaying citizens and community leaders. What we have today truly is "all about the money".
August 31, 2010 at 11:41 AM Report abuse