Mobile County (AL) students are almost done with the administration of the newest standardized test, the Criteria Reference Tests, which are intended to spot academic problems early on. The tests also contribute to students' grades, which may explain the pessimistic tack of this article:
...it will be another week before Mobile County school officials are able to review the tests to determine whether the questions were fair and the results accurate, said Lee Taylor, the system's assistant superintendent for curriculum.
"We know there were glitches. We're fixing them." Taylor said Monday. "We're going to acknowledge them and move forward..."
Kindergartners and first-graders were given verbal tests while second-graders through 12th-graders took written exams. Elementary students were quizzed in reading and math, while middle-schoolers and high-schoolers took tests in language, math, social studies, science and music.
The tests count for 10 percent of quarterly grades for kindergartners through third-graders and 20 percent for older students, according to system officials.
Danny Goodwin, a director of the Mobile County Education Association -- a local branch of the Alabama Education Association teachers union -- said his office was flooded Friday afternoon with calls from teachers who thought some questions were unfair and not on grade-level.
Some said the students were stressed because the test counted for so much of their quarterly grades, Goodwin said. Others complained that because the tests didn't match the county's curriculum, they were instructed to throw out or give the students answers to several questions.
Stress about the high-stakes really isn't newsworthy, but misaligned content matter, tossing items, or providing answers are indeed "glitches" that must be addressed. At least one principal was enthusiastic about the process, but many teachers felt that this first round of testing didn't go very well.
Posted by kswygert at October 14, 2003 05:17 PM