School’s out across the state, ushering in widespread euphoria and visions of summer leisure. But the end of school also means student evaluations of the year’s academic progress are forthcoming. When it comes to interpreting test results, what’s a parent to do? Here’s a rundown of what you need to know.
Academic feedback traditionally comes in two forms – from individual grades on report cards as well as from yearly assessments. But classroom grades, while valuable, are nevertheless subject to an individual teacher’s varied expectations or standards.
States are also concerned with ensuring quality control between classrooms, employing broad-based assessments as accountability tools. The linchpin of North Carolina’s ABCs Accountability Program is the End of Grade (EOG) reading and math test, administered in 3rd through 8th grades. EOG results provide data on student, teacher, and overall school performance. These assessments reflect state performance expectations and either validate or call into question the teacher’s evaluation – a kind of “check and balance” for quality education. Major discrepancies between classroom grades and EOGs are a cause for concern and mean an investigation is in order.
Accountability at the federal level comes from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Since the 2001 passage of the federal education law, No Child Left Behind, all states receiving Title 1 funding have been required to participate in NAEP reading and math assessments. NAEP serves as a valuable benchmark for evaluating the grade-level performance of students around the country. Unfortunately, while North Carolina’s EOGs and NAEP both have levels of achievement, the percentage of students performing at each of the levels varies greatly.
This means obtaining an accurate snapshot of your child’s performance can be tricky. A recent report released by Education Next, Keeping an Eye on State Standards, compares proficiency levels on state tests with NAEP scores. Each state received a grade based on the amount of agreement between NAEP and state accountability measures. Alarmingly, North Carolina was one of only three states to receive a grade of “F” because of wide discrepancies in the percentage of students considered proficient. This certainly calls into question the rigor of our state’s standards, an issue I raised back in 2004.
Are we “dumbing down” state tests to mask low achievement? It would surely seem so. But obscuring the truth won’t make us feel better for long. Stanislaw Lec, Polish poet and aphorist, had this to say about the importance of knowing the truth, however unpleasant: “I give you bitter pills in sugar coating. The pills are harmless: the poison is in the sugar.”
Finding out students aren’t keeping pace with their peers nationwide is a bitter pill, to be sure. But knowing where we really stand is a critical first step if we are ever to fix the problem. And having students who genuinely know their stuff is sweet success indeed.