Exposing The Fraud In Texas' Assessment Of Its Schools
By Bill Duffy
In a recent article published in a local newspaper on (7/14/2010), columnist
Rick Casey expressed his indignation regarding the new means that Texas has adopted for
assessing the progress of students in its schools. Casey says,
The more I think about the statistical chicanery that nearly tripled the number of "exemplary" Texas school districts while cutting the number of "unacceptable" districts by half, the more outraged I get.
The Texas Education Agency (TEA) has approved the use of a "Texas Projection Measure" (TPM) whereby students who take the TAKS achievement test are graded, not on their actual performance but on what they might be "projected" to score on the test two or three years from now. In other words, the "progress measure" is designed to count a student as "passing" a writing test if she gets not a single question right - as long as she barely passed the reading and math tests!
As Rick Casey states, Texas State Rep. Scott Hochberg is to be applauded for unmasking the TPM fraud at a recent legislative committee hearing. TEA defends the Texas Projection Measure by saying that it has 90% accuracy in projecting students' future scores. However, as Rep. Hockberg pulled out of TEA officials at the meeting, the 90% rate of accuracy includes ALL students who take the test, including those who are high academic achievers. As Casey says, "That's like predicting the survival rate of Texans with cancer by studying the life expectancy of all Texans." When looking at just the failing students, the accuracy of TPM is as low as 52 percent. In its zeal to make it seem like Texas is doing a good job of providing a quality education to its children, the Texas Education Agency is resorting to statistical tricks.
The children of Texas deserve better. The emphasis of the Texas Education Agency should be upon improving the performance of our children on tests that assess their academic skills rather than just making it look like our kids are doing well. If something is broken, fix it!--don't just give it a coat of new paint.
Email Bill your comments and feedback on this issue at wduffyark@sbcglobal.net.
In a recent article published in a local newspaper on (7/14/2010), columnist
Rick Casey expressed his indignation regarding the new means that Texas has adopted for
assessing the progress of students in its schools. Casey says,The more I think about the statistical chicanery that nearly tripled the number of "exemplary" Texas school districts while cutting the number of "unacceptable" districts by half, the more outraged I get.
The Texas Education Agency (TEA) has approved the use of a "Texas Projection Measure" (TPM) whereby students who take the TAKS achievement test are graded, not on their actual performance but on what they might be "projected" to score on the test two or three years from now. In other words, the "progress measure" is designed to count a student as "passing" a writing test if she gets not a single question right - as long as she barely passed the reading and math tests!
As Rick Casey states, Texas State Rep. Scott Hochberg is to be applauded for unmasking the TPM fraud at a recent legislative committee hearing. TEA defends the Texas Projection Measure by saying that it has 90% accuracy in projecting students' future scores. However, as Rep. Hockberg pulled out of TEA officials at the meeting, the 90% rate of accuracy includes ALL students who take the test, including those who are high academic achievers. As Casey says, "That's like predicting the survival rate of Texans with cancer by studying the life expectancy of all Texans." When looking at just the failing students, the accuracy of TPM is as low as 52 percent. In its zeal to make it seem like Texas is doing a good job of providing a quality education to its children, the Texas Education Agency is resorting to statistical tricks.
The children of Texas deserve better. The emphasis of the Texas Education Agency should be upon improving the performance of our children on tests that assess their academic skills rather than just making it look like our kids are doing well. If something is broken, fix it!--don't just give it a coat of new paint.
Email Bill your comments and feedback on this issue at wduffyark@sbcglobal.net.
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