Parent Cortical Mass

Linda Darling-Hammond's Vision for Education

Linda Darling-Hammond, a PCM Top 10 Influencer, spoke with PBS' Need to Know Blog during the Celebration of Teaching and Learning in mid March.  She says America needs to get away from "popcorn reforms" and "zig-zag policies."  We must take the time to build a coherent, high quality education system like nations scoring at the top of the international tests have done.

See this 2 minute video of Darling-Hammond vision at PBS' How to Fix Education site.

Clarifying the President's Remarks on Tests

Recently at a town hall meeting President Obama answered a student’s question about excessive testing that many bloggers thought contradicted his own Education Department.

In response, US Department of Education Press Secretary, Justin Hamilton, provided a statement to blogger Anthony Cody at Living in Dialogue.

Hamilton’s statement shed light on the following questions raised in PCM's post What Did President Obama Mean About Standardized Tests?

1. When the President says if "everybody can agree on a test that makes sense” does he mean that buy-in by the stakeholders makes accountability to the test fair?

President Obama and Sec. Duncan agree, said Hamilton, that tests used in NCLB “need to improve dramatically.”

Their plan, A Blueprint for Reform, replaces one-shot high stakes bubble tests with a “new generation of assessments that are more useful to students, parents and teachers, and promotes good instruction in the classroom.”

The new assessments measure student growth instead of absolute levels of proficiency.  They could include standardized tests or “portfolios, observation of student work against a rubric aligned with state standards, or assessments designed by teachers according to state guidance.”

The President believes these new tests would make more sense to parents, teachers and students. He implies that would mean fewer objections to including them in an accountability system.

2. Is the President suggesting that when other criteria besides standardized tests are included in the accountability system, then the test's stake is no longer high? 

Hamilton didn't make this argument. Instead he said the Education Department's position was that assessments measuring student growth are, by definition, not high-stakes tests.

He did discuss additional criteria for judging whether a school was successful. The Blueprint included "measures of student growth in subjects other than English language arts and math…graduation rates; college enrollment rates; the rate of college enrollment without the need for remediation…student, teacher and school leader attendance; disciplinary incidents; or student, parent, or school staff surveys about their school experience.”

When more criteria are included in the accountability system, the stake of test scores is most likely reduced. But the system must be finalized to know for certain.

3. Could the President be saying that standardized tests are diagnostic tests and should not be part of the accountability system?  That would be a policy shift.

Hamilton was emphatic that tests measuring student growth were diagnostic tests and that they were included in the proposed accountability system. Many would argue that any test score included in an accountability system is, by definition, not a diagnostic test. The President would likely disagree, so there isn't a policy shift.

The Blueprint will mean more tests, admitted Hamilton.  But since they are useful tests that measure student progress to better align instruction, they will "foster a classroom culture of continuous improvement."

The President did tell the student seeking relief from excessive testing, "…you're going to have to take some tests, man, you're not going to get completely out of that." 

Background Information:

PCM Core Article: What is Accountability in Education Policy?

PCM Top 10 Education Policies