FairTest Testing Resistance & Reform News July 12 - 18, 2017

FairTest Testing Resistance & Reform News July 12 - 18, 2017

There's no evidence of any "summer doldrums" for the U.S. assessment reform movement.  With each week, more and more states respond to grassroots pressure by reducing testing mandates and the time devoted to standardized exams. Nationally, the impact is striking: for example, the number of jurisdictions with high school exit exams has been trimmed to just 13, down from 27 that once had or planned such requirements (http://fairtest.org/graduation-test-update-states-recently-eliminated).

Alabama Why Teacher Diversity Is Important for Student Academic Performance
http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2017/07/why_its_important_to_have_a_di.html

California Controversies Over State ESSA Plan
http://www.dailynews.com/general-news/20170716/state-board-faces-deadline-tough-decisions-on-new-federal-law-for-improving-schools

District of Columbia The Truth About Cheating in DC Schools
https://themerrowreport.com/2017/07/14/school-reforms-hot-air-balloon/

Florida Algebra 2 End-of-Course Testing Mandate Ended
http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/gradebook/can-florida-students-still-take-the-algebra-2-end-of-course-exam/2330027

Idaho Small Schools May Be Exempt Under Proposed ESSA Accountability Plan
https://www.idahoednews.org/news/small-schools-may-exempt-accountability-provisions-essa-plan/

Maryland State Seeks Feedback on ESSA Plan
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/harford/aegis/ph-ag-new-school-ratings-0712-20170711-story.html
Maryland Impact of State Testing Time Limits Will Vary Among Districts
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/education/k-12/bs-md-testing-cap-20170714-story.html

Massachusetts What Today's Education Reformers Can Learn From Thoreau
http://www.masslive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2017/07/what_todays_education_reformer.html

Minnesota Students Talk About Standardized Testing -- St. Paul Federation of Teachers Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNHYPtsNBFk&feature=youtu.be

Montana Educators Criticize Fairness of Proposal for Testing Learning Disabled Students
http://missoulian.com/news/government-and-politics/educators-question-fairness-of-opi-s-proposal-for-disabled-students/article_3c4487a8-48b5-5ac2-8e6f-d90851533700.html

New York Educators Judged by Test Scores From Students, Subjects They Don't Teach
http://www.chalkbeat.org/posts/ny/2017/07/13/new-data-show-more-than-half-of-nyc-teachers-judged-in-part-by-test-scores-they-dont-directly-affect/

Ohio How Graduation Testing Requirements Have Been Relaxed
http://www.mydaytondailynews.com/news/what-you-need-know-about-ohio-new-graduation-changes/C4K4KoZluw0no2xQ5gLsQN/
Ohio Third Graders May Be Held Back Due to Errors in Setting Test Cut-Off Scores
http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2017/07/errors_could_unfairly_force_som.html

Oklahoma Ever-Changing State Assessment Requirements
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/education/attention-parents-of-oklahoma-students-delay-in-state-test-scores/article_17af4de7-8866-524c-96e2-f5f7f026dc9b.html

Oregon Test Scores Are the Wrong Bottom Line for Education
http://registerguard.com/rg/opinion/35754947-78/test-scores-are-wrong-bottom-line-in-education.html.csp

Pennsylvania Teaching to the Test Takes Time From Real Learning
http://www.readingeagle.com/voices/article/teaching-to-the-test

Texas State Testing Data Inconsistencies Do Not Support Year-to-Year Comparisons
http://www.chron.com/news/education/article/Fewer-Texas-Houston-students-pass-state-s-11286107.php

Virginia Standardized Tests To Have Smaller Influence Under Proposed New Law
http://wvtf.org/post/standardized-tests-could-have-smaller-impact-under-potential-new-law#stream/0

Washington Make Legislators Pass Fifth Grade Math Test
http://www.theolympian.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/article161033609.html

Wisconsin Eliminate Test-Based Barriers to Becoming a Teacher
http://bustedpencils.com/2017/07/no-status-quo-wisconsin/

University Admissions Law Deans Ask Why Their Schools Should Be Required to Use Admissions Tests
http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/rather_than_accept_more_entrance_exams_some_law_school_deans_favor_eliminat

Actionable Knowledge for Equity bulletin on bullying and harassment, actionable data, quality teaching, and school leadership.

IDRA's Actionable Knowledge for Equity bulletin gives you info on four campaign areas: bullying and harassment, actionable data, quality teaching, and school leadership.

--------- July 2017 --------- IDRA's Actionable Knowledge for Equity bulletin gives you info on four campaign areas: bullying and harassment, actionable data, quality teaching, and school leadership. In this issue...  Most In-school Bullying Occurs in Hallways and Classrooms Racial-ethnic Tension Occurs at All Grade Levels 5 Reasons Research Shows Teacher Leave School Boards that Lead for Equity - Podcast IDRA's empirically-based  Quality Schools Action Framework outlines indispensable levers of change that depend on the production and use of actionable knowledge - clear, accurate and timely information - to assess what is needed to strengthen public schooling. Bullying and Harassment  Most In-school Bullying Occurs in Hallways and Classrooms  In May, NCES released the School Crime Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey with data on bullying. About 21 percent of teens (12 to 18 years old) reported being bullied at school during the school year in 2015. By race-ethnicity, 25 percent of Black students, 22 percent of White students and 17 percent of Hispanic students reported being bullied at school. By grade levels, the percentage was higher for sixth graders than students in eighth through 12th grades.  The graph below shows the location where the bullying was reported to have occurred, with the most being in a school hallway or stairwell followed by bullying inside the classroom. Location of Bullying in Schools Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, School Crime Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey, 2015. Location totals may sum to more than 100 percent because students could have been bullied in more than one location. See the report overview, "Bullying at School and Cyber-Bullying Anywhere" Other Resources * "Bullying Prevention Guide for Parents, Teachers, School Administrators & Community Members," by ING * "Bullying: Guidelines for Teachers," by Teaching Tolerance Actionable Data  Racial-ethnic Tension Occurs at All Grade Levels While the perception may be that racial-ethnic tension is most prominent among older teenagers, schools across the country are reporting issues that lead to discipline problems at all grade levels. Middle schools have over twice the rate of other levels. And surprisingly, elementary schools have higher rates than high schools.  Source: NCES Digest of Education Statistics. Percentage of public schools reporting selected discipline problems that occurred at school, by frequency and selected school characteristics: Selected years, 1999-2000 through 2013-14.  Quality Teaching  Research Brief Outlines Teacher Shortage Issues and Key Strategies See "Solving the Teacher Shortage: How to Attract and Retain Excellent Educators" and related resources by the Learning Policy Institute School Leadership  School Boards that Lead for Equity -  Classnotes Podcast In order for educational equity to take hold in a school, it is critical that it be in an environment where the district level governance structure provides leadership for systemic equity. A former superintendent in three school districts, Dr. Larry Leverett is the recently-retired executive director of Panasonic Foundation that supports efforts of school systems to improve academic and social outcomes for all students. In this podcast episode, he describes how the Panasonic Foundation has shifted its focus to school board leadership in advancing system-wide equity strategies. (Show length: 15:29 min.) Listen now! Dr. Leverett is one of the authors of the journal that was published earlier this year, Essential Approaches for Excellence & Sustainable School System Transformation, that was developed by a group of experts who came together to pull together capacity-building approaches for school and system change. As he relates in this interview, Larry's chapter, Systems Change and Governance: School Boards That Lead for Equity, outlines several actions boards should take. Larry is interviewed by Bradley Scott, Ph.D., former director of the IDRA South Central Collaborative for Equity, who also contributed a chapter in the ECCBN journal. Send comments to podcast@idra.org. Sign up to receive free e-mail notices when new episodes are available.

Website     Technical Assistance    Research    Pressroom   Contact Us The Intercultural Development Research Association is an independent, non-profit organization. Our mission is to achieve equal educational opportunity for every child through strong public schools that prepare all students to access and succeed in college. IDRA strengthens and transforms public education by providing dynamic training; useful research, evaluation, and frameworks for action; timely policy analyses; and innovative materials and programs. We are committed to the IDRA valuing philosophy, respecting the knowledge and skills of the individuals we work with and build on the strengths of the students and parents in their schools.

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