NECAP and graduation: a parent’s perspective

This past Sunday afternoon (August 26) my friend Tina Egan and I attended a RI Board of Education meeting.  I am very proud of Tina as she was one of the plaintiffs on the recent lawsuit that ensured such an important meeting, which included a presentation on the use of the NECAP as a graduation requirement, would be open to the public.  Tina and I are parents of children with disabilities and we feel strongly that our children deserve the opportunity to receive a quality education and the opportunity to receive a diploma for their extraordinary efforts.  We both got involved in this issue after seeing, first hand, the unfairness and discriminatory policy of utilizing the NECAP as a graduation requirement for students with disabilities.  Later, I came to realize that this policy hurts not only students with special needs, but all students - and education as a whole.

Going into the meeting, I admit that I expected it would be a one-sided argument in favor of keeping the test as a graduation requirement.  I was somewhat surprised to hear information during the meeting that was clearly not supportive of the policy.  Granted, my observations are from a parent's perspective, but since students and parents are the real stakeholders in this discussion, I hope those reading this will consider that the views of a parent have validity, too.

Closing the Achievement Gap

After digesting all of the information presented at the meeting, the most significant aspect for me was the focus on closing the achievement gaps.   These are the test score gaps that exist between kids with disabilities, English language learners, minorities & low income students vs. generally white, non-low income, non-disabled students.  Andrea Castandea, from the RI Department of Education, opened the discussion on NECAP with a slide showing the substantial achievement gap that exists for these students in our state and then closed the meeting with the same slide.  As someone with a special needs student, the achievement gap is a tremendous concern.  Closing the achievement gap is what No Child Left Behind, Race to the Top and using the NECAP as a graduation requirement are all about.

Yet, according to former Massachusetts Education Commissioner, David Driscoll, the first guest speaker of the afternoon, Massachusetts STILL hasn't closed the achievement gap even after 20 years of reform measures and the implementation of their standardized test, the MCAS (Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System), as a graduation requirement.  In fact, for some of those subgroups, including special needs students, the gap has actually increased.  Massachusetts is held as the model state for its high achievement and great test scores.  Yet, after all of their education reform policies and emphasis on high stakes testing, they still have not solved the basic problem of how to help students with disabilities, limited English students, minorities and low income students achieve the same level as their non-disadvantaged peers.  For being the birthplace of No Child Left Behind and ground zero for standardized testing, Texas hasn't done it either.   Apparently, no one has - and that’s the problem.  There was no evidence presented that the use of the NECAP, or any standardized test as a graduation requirement, closes the achievement gap.  Perhaps, it’s because such substantial evidence doesn’t exist?

Massachusetts vs. Rhode Island

Dr. Driscoll provided a brief history lesson on the journey that Massachusetts took towards their reform efforts and using the test as a graduation requirement:

1.  Legislation was passed and then signed into law by Gov. Weld in 1993 (The Massachusetts Education Reform Act)

2.  Part of the legislation was to make a significant investment in education - particularly in urban / low income districts.

3.  The state, districts and educators worked together on aligning curriculum and preparing students for a period of 10 years prior to implementation of the MCAS as a graduation requirement in 2003

We also got a brief history on Rhode Island's journey to implementation of the NECAP as a graduation requirement from Ms. Castaneda:

1.  In 2007 the Board of Education decided that a 'statewide assessment alone could not determine graduation' 

2.  In 2011 - the Board 'revisited' the issue and decided that the 'statewide assessment would have equal weight to course requirements and PBGR (performance based graduation requirements. ie: senior project, portfolio, etc.).  

The comparison was pretty striking. Unlike MA, Rhode Island's policy was never voted on by lawmakers or approved by the Governor.  I also learned that Rhode Island’s policy was decided on by 6 Board of Education members in March of 2011 (These six people were: Robert Flanders, Patrick Guida, Anna Cano-Morales, Amy Beretta, Karin Forbes, and Betsy Shimberg.  These members were appointed by Governor Carcieri and the vote occurred at the start of Gov. Chafee’s term).  Rhode Island had 3 years instead of 10 to implement the policy.  Lastly, the MCAS are given in 10th grade, not 11th as in Rhode Island.

Back to Massachusetts.  Apparently, Massachusetts is near the bottom when it comes to closing the achievement gap for kids with disabilities, ELLs, low income students, etc., across the country.  Former RI Department of Education analyst, Rick Richards, discusses this in further detail in his recap of the meeting, here:

http://www.rifuture.org/board-of-ed-retreat-the-course-is-set.html

The Testing Experts

The second speaker was Dr. Stuart Kahl, Founder of Measured Progress, Inc., the testing company that created the NECAP.  I was eager to hear Dr. Kahl's comments as he as previously has spoken about the importance of in classroom assessments, multiple measures and a balanced assessment system.  He has talked of high stakes tests as being a measurement of systems not individuals and has also made the following statements:

"No testing expert, company, or user manual has ever failed to warn consumers that major decisions should not be based on the results of a single test." 

"Race to the Top grants should allow for the time, the research, and the resources needed to develop assessments that are not burdened by high stakes, so that students can truly show what they know and teachers can determine better ways to teach.”       

Unfortunately, Dr. Kahl basically reiterated that the tests are valid in their alignment with grade level expectations (GLEs) and content.  He also said that while they may have not been originally designed to be used as a graduation requirement, there is no reason they shouldn’t.  Looking back, I suppose it was a little naïve of me to think that Dr. Kahl wouldn’t 100% back the use of the NECAP in this way.  Rhode Island is one of their biggest clients and has contracted to use the NECAP through 2016.  Silly me.

However, I would have loved to have heard from Dr. Kahl’s college, Dr. Michael Russell on the limitations of the current use of standardized tests for students with disabilities, English language learners and students not reading at or near grade level.  As a true expert on testing, his concern is that tests in their current form are more likely to measure a student’s limitation and not what the student actual knows.  His analysis of this issue can be found on the Measured Progress website here:  http://www.measuredprogress.org/test-accessibility

It should also be noted that when asked by one of the Board members if all students have had the opportunity to learn the content measured by the NECAP test, Castaneda replied that "not every student has had access to the curriculum."  She pointed out that some students may not be taking geometry until their senior year.  This also struck me as a huge concern not just for students with limitations, but all students. Students are being tested and judged on content they have not had the opportunity to learn, and the Department of Education knows it.  Lack of opportunity to learn is a critical point.

A Different Point of View

The most compelling speaker of the afternoon was Tony Wagner from an education expert from Harvard University who spoke to the group via Skype.  Essentially, he told the Board that the current education system is not broken but “obsolete” and doesn’t need reform but needs “reinventing.”  He also referred to the current standards movement and the over-dependence on high stakes testing as “educational suicide."

Instead, he urged the Board to place more emphasis on the real skills required in the 21st century:  1) thinking critically; 2) communicating effectively; 3) working collaboratively and 4) solving problems creatively.  Wagner recommended accountability measures that focus on what students can do, not what they know and advocated the use of student portfolios to emphasize this.  

He even addressed the issue of closing the achievement gap through motivation and teachers as coaches and mentors.  He emphasized that skills which result in innovation cannot be taught in the same way nor assessed on a standardized test, but are critical to creating innovation saying.  He said, “…it’s not what you know, it’s what you do with what you know.”  Dr. Wagner drew the only applause of the day from the audience (which appeared to be primarily students and parents).

While I was pleasantly surprised that the Board was provided some diverse opinions on the issue of high stakes testing, I wish they could receive more input from teachers, principals and, once again, students and parents.  Perhaps there will be another opportunity at their meeting on September 9th.

Concerns

Two comments raised some serious red flags in my mind.  The first was when Ms. Castaneda stated that the Department of Education stands "shoulder-to-shoulder with school committees, superintendents and principals" on the use of the NECAP as a graduation requirement.  It was rather jarring that “teachers, parents and students” were not included in that grouping.  Perhaps teachers, parents and students need to stand shoulder-to-shoulder and demand more from our education system.   A test isn't going to close the achievement gap - only teachers, parents and students can do that.  

The second comment was perhaps the most disturbing and startling comment I think I have heard throughout this entire process.  It appeared to be in response to some Board members receiving phone calls from concerned parents about the NECAP - especially those in the group of 4,000 who did not achieve partially proficient.  I couldn’t recall the exact quote so I’m using the one provided by another attendee.  The comment was, again, from Ms. Casteneda: “Apocryphal stories are not the currency of policy making. We’ve all heard the sob stories. They may have personal problems but we have data.”  I realized in that moment that the people making these crucial decisions about our children’s education view them as test scores and data points.  Not students, children or human beings.  Data. 

Students and parents need to be engaged on this issue.  Teachers have been engaged for years.  Principals and some superintendents are beginning to, but policy makers seem to put more stock into the opinions of business leaders over educators on education issues.

If I sound angry about this, I am.  I’m angry at seeing a systematic marginalization of special needs children.  I’m angry that English language learners are treated like second class citizens.  I’m angry that some parents feel helpless because they don’t understand what’s happening.  I’m angry that bright students who, through no fault of their own, are being labeled as failures and don’t even know if they should apply for college because of their test score.  I’m angry that the policy makers seem to think that the reason our students don’t perform well is that they’re lazy and need the threat of not graduating as a motivational tool.

A few weeks ago, the elementary school that my son attended in East Greenwich, was put on ‘warning’ by the Department of Education for failing to meet its ‘targets.’  Meadowbrook Farms is probably one of the best elementary schools in the state and has one of the most respected and successful programs in the country for working with children on the autism spectrum (in conjunction with the Autism Project of RI).   They were placed on ‘warning’ because 75% of their 3rd grade special needs children were supposed to achieve partially proficient on the NECAP and they didn’t.  Is it just me?  Or, are test scores really the only thing that matter anymore.

I am genuinely concerned for any child entering our schools in the next few years.  If things do not change, I fear they will have an education experience that will focus on students becoming just a test score, teachers only teaching to the test and a total lack of motivation to strive for anything beyond partial proficiency.   In New York, Texas, Chicago, Seattle and Florida, students, their parents and their teachers are not accepting being defined by a test score.  As we enter into a new school year, and as the Board of Education reconsiders this policy, let’s not sit on the sidelines.  Talk to your teachers, principals, superintendents, Board of Ed members, politicians, etc.  This one’s important.