New York teachers will no longer grade their own students’ standardized tests

Teachers in New York State will no longer be grading their own students’ standardized tests.  This is a welcome change, considering that New York has a long-standing problem with inflated state test scores and a history of teacher intervention skewing the normal statistical distribution of grades.

The ban, which will go into effect in the 2012-13 school year for all elementary school, middle school and high school standardized exams, will reverse a longstanding practice that State Education Department officials say is inappropriate in an era when student test scores are used to evaluate teachers and principals. It is also a move to avoid the kind of cheating scandals that have erupted in cities like Atlanta and Washington….

Teacher intervention inflates New York Regents exam scores

New York has a long-standing problem with inflated state test scores, including repeated citings of questionable grading practices but no concrete action to address the problem.

In 2003-4, the testing company CTB/McGraw-Hill rescored a sample of Regents exams and found that its scores were generally lower than the scores awarded by the schools, a sign that score inflation was taking place, according to a 2009 audit of Regents scoring by the state comptroller’s office….

… 2004 e-mail in which a state education official cited statistics that showed how teachers statewide appeared to be helping some students over the bar….

And in 2005, a team of the State Education Department’s own experts rescored some June Regents exams and found a “significant tendency for local school districts to award full credit on questions requiring scorer judgment, even when the exam answers were vague, incomplete, inaccurate, or insufficiently detailed,” the comptroller’s audit reported, adding, “These inaccuracies have tended to inflate the academic performance of students and schools.”

Teacher intervention is skewing the normal statistical distribution of grades

… about three times as many students scored exactly at the passing mark than at each one of the scores below it, a result not in keeping with a standard statistical distribution.

A New York State deputy commissioner of education:

“Obviously, teachers look for points to get kids to pass.”

Despite concerns about conflict of interest, teachers still score their own students’ or school’s test.

“We are relying more than ever on state exams — to measure student achievement, to evaluate teacher and principal effectiveness, and to hold schools and districts accountable for their performance,” Merryl H. Tisch, the Regents chancellor, said last month, in support of tightened grading practices. “If we’re going to use the tests in these ways, we need to be absolutely certain that our system is beyond reproach.”

Schools will use tracking and more nonfiction reading to improve achievement

Everything old is new again.

New York released English and math state test scores for grades 3-8 yesterday.  Since the state toughened standards, overall pass rates have dropped.  As a way to try to improve sores, some schools are trying different strategies, including tracking students by skill level and using more nonfiction reading material.  I wish our local schools would do this.

Jessica O’Donovan, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction in White Plains, said despite the relatively low pass rates — largely due to tougher standards, she said — the district is confident its students will be prepared for Regents exams and college.

The district is implementing various changes in teaching and intervention strategies, O’Donovan said.

A program called Intervention Block regroups elementary students based on skill level for more tailored instruction. At the middle school level, teachers regularly meet to craft common assessments and analyze data….

Tougher standards took a hit on scores in the Valhalla school district. About three-quarters of students in grades three through eight met or exceeded standards in English and math, but pass rates fell in both subjects at nearly every grade level….

Myers said the dip in her district’s scores, and those of districts statewide, was due to the last test having more difficult items on it than the exam in 2010, which itself was toughened. She also said certain items were used on the tests for the first time.

Still, Myers said, the district is working to improve performance.

Instructors are using more nonfiction books and analytical questions to improve higher-level comprehension. In math, she said the district would analyze the results to see if a specific type of problem accounted for the decline in scores.

“We have to be focused on a good solid curriculum and targeted intervention,” Myers said.

Nonfiction books provide background knowledge that improves reading comprehension and help prepare students for the type of reading they will need to do in college.

66 percent of Lower Hudson Valley students met testing standards in 2010-11 – LoHud.com