There are going to be fewer state tests for students
As noted in today's article by Lynn Bonner, state legislators are echoing Gov. Bev Perdue's call to drop the number of state end-of-course exams that high school students take. The exact number that would be eliminated remains to be seen.
Also mentioned in the article is that state education officials are dropping the third-grade pretests next school year. That will have some ramifications.
The pretests offered at the beginning of the school year are compared with the EOGs at the end of the year to determine the growth rates for third-graders. The growth rates are in turn used to help determine state bonuses under the ABCs program.
But for cost reasons, the state Board of Education decided to scrap the third-grade pretests for one year. It will save at least $130,000.
They'll still have the EOGs in reading and math at the end of the school year for third-graders.
Without the pretests, you can't determine growth for third-graders. As a result, the growth scores for elementary schools in 2009-10 will only be based on the results of the fourth- and fifth-graders.
But based on the economy, don't look for the state to be issuing bonuses to teachers, teacher assistants and principals anytime soon.
The third-grade EOGs next year will still be used to determine a school's composite score, which is the percentage of passing exams. The composite score is used to determine non-monetary awards such as School of Excellence, School of Distinction, etc.
Comments
When A Child Can't Read
Sat, 05/30/2009 - 06:21 — AngelaWhttp://venitapeyton.com/2009/05/when-child-cant-read.html
A child’s permanent school record may tell the story. It may tell when the first signs of trouble were recorded, who signed off and who dropped the ball.
To empower children, they must know the basics. Many of us knew teachers in Southeast Raleigh who would encourage parents how to be more involved in their child's educational progress. They would tell the parent(s) how to approach both the teachers and principal.
Today, many parents can't be reached. Teachers have become distrusted and treated more as the target than the solution. They are rebuffed when asking for an appointment. Parents are angry for any number of reasons.
Perhaps because they no longer feel empowered to help their own child.
Whatever it takes, parents must know that many resources are available. That they can’t wait until a serious problem develops. And that no one buys the excuse of them being too busy.
We know who the parents are. We know where they live and know what to say. Matching parents with resources that can assist them in raising a healthy, well educated child should be Wake County's number one priority.
It's a win-win for everyone. The child, the parent, the teacher and all of society. Without the right intervention, being unable to read will follow that child into adulthood. It's why foreign language is introduced in the early grades. Children, equipped with the basics, can sometimes learn faster than adults.
But we must eliminate the competition for their attention, like video games, television and troublemaking "friends".
I don't advocate a blame game. Just enough support from adults who will move out of the way and let the experts "do their thing".
Everyone can't teach. But everyone can learn.
http://www.newsobserver.com/
Fri, 05/29/2009 - 10:15 — AngelaWhttp://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/editorials/story/1546442.html
Fewer tests? Yes
The recession and resulting state budget crisis are testing North Carolina. A small part of the answer lies in less testing.
Fewer mandatory exams for public school students would improve education and bolster the budget's bottom line. The monetary savings may be modest, yet still it makes more sense to lay off testing than to lay off teachers.
At issue is a measure passed by the state Senate to eliminate several standardized tests. In the crosshairs are exams that are not required for high school graduation or by federal law. They include high school subject tests in algebra II, geometry, chemistry and physics. These tests are used to evaluate schools, not to judge individual students' progress.
Presumably, some of the information gleaned from these tests and sliced and diced in the depths of the Department of Public Instruction has value. It's good to assure reasonable standardization of the statewide curriculum, and while "teaching to the test" has many shortcomings, it does concentrate educators' minds.
But the loss of these tests will not leave the schools lacking for means to measure progress or lack of it. Other subject tests will remain, and college-bound students still face an ocean of ovals to be filled in (or not) with a No. 2 pencil. Too often, in the student accountability craze that swept public education after the federal No Child Left Behind Act, testing replaced teaching, and a sharp-pencil focus on "testable" subjects left art, music and other worthwhile endeavors in the lurch.
It's likely that the loss of a few tests will be no loss at all -- particularly when the state House (which favors cutting fewer tests than does the Senate) is looking to hack $1 billion-plus from public education. No loss at all.
Waste waste waste
Wed, 05/27/2009 - 20:18 — SDR256Regarding Angela's post : Really scary.
What about the 20 employees, including the superintendent of growth management? That's a good 5 millon there. How many teachers would that pay? What about the PR/Marketing budget for WCPSS? Good propoganda costs a lot. What about the bond we're paying interest on? Not sure how to get rid of that, but must be a way. What about those D&%$#N buses? Any one of these alternative cuts would buy back a good number of those teachers.
Oh, but I forgot. The teachers are not part of the bureaucracy. And the bureaucracy protects its own. They're like fat cells - gorping around the muscle and bone that are really doing the work - and greedily reproducing.
And now fewer tests. Not sure whether to be happy about that or not. Will they stop teaching to the test? Doubt it. They will still have the EOGs. Knowing this system it will likely just translate into even less accountability.
OT-alert House looks to slash $1.8B from education budget
Wed, 05/27/2009 - 12:05 — AngelaWhttp://www.wral.com/news/local/politics/story/5223852/