Social Promotion, Retention, and High-Stakes Testing of Young Children
Angela Valenzuela
Associate Professor, University of Texas, Austin
30 April 2004: TTU College of Education Jones lecture

Senate Bill 4 has added more promotion gates for Texas: will be at 3rd, 5th, and 8th as well as EXIT
- we have increased the stakes at a young age

Concerns:
1- ethics of testing young/all children in way psychometricians call it a single criterion for decisions which are of long term impact to children
- research on retention (Laurie Shepherd)
-- retain once: 50% chance of dropout
-- retain twice: 90% chance or dropout

you can either:
- retain and provide resources
- retain and not provide resources
- promote and provide resources
- promote and not provide resources

3 decades of solid research has produced systemaitc conclusions: it is socially and academically harmful to retain students with either of the above scenarios

Some research looks more psycho-socialy at stress of testing (ranked next to the death of a parent in terms of its effect of the child)
- this is a death: a social death

1999 session: there were NOT any academics who testified who brought these 3 decades of research to bear in the Capitol
- this reflects broader problem we have: how our own research gets translated and connected to policymaking and decisions
- unfortunately there is a huge gulf between academe and legislature
- common problem: legislators don't have time to read, the staffers really run the show

this has led to many structural barriers which lead to rushed legislation and a non-optimal situation
- as academics we are very responsible to find ways to connect to those in power
- very interesting to see who the legislators call to testify: it is usually based on who they know and who can respond in a short timeframe
- this is a real structural problem that has contributed to our current situation and especially this issue: a retention policy dressed up as social promotion

EXIT level is now 11th grade

- have 2 separate pieces of legislation our groups are working on
- www.doraolivo.com
- http://doraolivo.com/hearings.html
- were HB 336 and 337 in last session
- need practicioner perspectives on these proposed legislations
- one idea was to include more, reasonable factors in the promotion of students besides just the single test
- were able to impact the "Student Success Initiative" (the due process piece of our state social promotion policy)
- originally students would take the test 3x and then it was unclear what they would do
- got that reduced to 2x and then a committee comes in and make a decision based on criteria based on what we had in mind: this is a result of the interpretation of current law rather than new statues
- this still doesn't meet the spirit of what we were trying to accomplish
- what I wanted was a multiple criteria process that kicked in immediately, so students would not have to experience failure too many times
- states like Rhode Island have a system of evalution based on lots of stuff: portfolios, grades, teacher recommendations, etc.
-- give districts the option to use test scores
--- if they chose to use test scores, they could not exceed 10% as the weight assigned to that portion
--- other models are Maine, Vermont, Nebraska: very robust assessment systems
--- Illinois has very strong parent group emphasizing "a balanced approach to assessment"

in Texas because we are home to the Texas miracle
- my experience is this term is mostly a joke
- you here these term often outside of Texas, and in newspaper accounts
- because of that our TEA is just the instrument for the accountability measures, they are not providing leadership or trying to be innovative
-- so the leadership is left up to people like us: parents, educators, etc

concern over our work was that we were trying to dismantle the entire accountability system

Took state of Texas to court

conclusion of study: assessment system had a disproportionate impact on children from certain ethnic and socioeconomic groups
- 85% of those who were being held back were black and Latino
- Judge agreed that impact was disproportionate and he was troubled that there was correlation
- Judge ruled there was harm but it didn't reach a constitutional level of harm, therefore the state had followed due process in developing the exam, giving students multiple
- this made it hard to challenge the judge on

So then these groups took the issue to the legislature
- there is strong resistance to this: in part because it is viewed as a parisan piece of legislation: minoritarian concern
- this is really a pro-child and pro-assessment movement and piece of legislation
- they could not get a white legislator to carry this piece of legislation (ideal would be a while Republican)

Other criticisms:
- what we have in place now is more objective
- how would you implement a multiple-criteria assessment system

Intents are not
- to dismantle the system
- provide additional layers of buracracy

Accountability system is a behomoth: many aspects to monitoring and compliance
- we are just talking about providing immediate relief to students and teachers, evaluating

Testmakers themselves always say you should not use these tests in singular ways to make significant decisions
- all psychometricians agree that tests should not be used in the way they are being used in our state
- right now it is high stakes for everyone, because of the federal legislation: but we are not talking about that: we want to affect/impact the individual level

when you conflate assessment with "performance monitoring" then you corrupt the assessment
- because the monitoring is susceptible to so many factors: teaching to the test, teaching only a subset of children who will bring the school up to an acceptable level

this can be seen to be more a management system rather than a pedagogical one
- this is a real curtailing of "teacher's craft" in our state

In Texas you have history of teacher associations not being very strong
- when those associations testify, they tend to represent their own bread and butter sort of issues and NOT go on
- during Mark White administration you saw teachers really gave up a lot of their freedoms (control over their craft) in exchange for a pay raise, this was during the Perot reforms
- Linda McNeil: Contradictions of Reform book

When state can evaluate the value that you add to the profession, you no longer are in control of your craft, you can't set the price of your labor, can't set the standards for your quality, etc.

Administrators then get transformed into compliance officers instead of instructional leaders

Part of the code that need to be sunsetted include the narrowing of curriculum and places where the result is not all children are being taught (Chapt 39 of Texas Education code)
- this is a much larger project and initiative
- legislators now have the view: finally that we have these controls in place, teachers are finally teaching
-- it is true that in some instances that was happening, but not in all places
-- this really creates a situatiion of low morale, high stress: good teachers who have a strong sense of their craft no longer perceive rewards for bringing their best to the classroom for students

Texas Freedom Network, NAACP, Maldef, statewide coalition
- for regular session in 2005: Texans for Quality Assessment, had a website
- Citizens for Quality Assessment
- Parents United to Reform TAAS TEsting (Carol Holtz)
- not Texas Federation of Teachers, but DO have all other teacher organizations in the state (TFT helped George Bush craft social promotion policy when he was governor)
-- they believe it is better to retain people, because you promote people who don't have the skills

Dean Santos: deprofessionalization of education does have a big impact on Colleges of Education

Really have not had any mentors on working these issues
- my students are really my mentors, many do internships in legislature

What is very interesting about how the stars of lined up: Kent Grussendorf (Chair of House Education Committee) also a supporter of vouchers, privatization, along with instant teacher certification
- at same time our efforts are being thwarted
- Grussendorf says the ultimate accountability is the marketplace
- the ultimate goal here is to benefit the wealthy and their consituents in Texas (but it is also a national issue)
-- this is why Paige is calling the NEA terrorists
-- Milton Friedman is calling teacher associations and public education the last public monopoly

Benevides: similaries to what has been done in health care: dismantling of doctor / parent relationships
- this really has the opposite effect of professionalization
- fear same thing may happen to education in the long run
- are we back to the 1960s where we need a mass, populist uprising to change this and force reform?

We have 1 leader from superintendent's office in Laredo
- I am state chair for Texas Lulec

My thought: teachers are quitting now in large numbers but are not doing so in a coordinated way that perhaps might increase legislative impact

www.texansforfairfunding.org (Latino coalition)

Santos: when you speak out as an advocate of children what you say seems to fall in deaf ears
- the diversion of the war is now changing our focus from real issues on schools, employment, etc

Safarini people perceive White legislators are afraid of minority power
- Laredo is getting organized

Lulac: this is a high point in our history, we are working closely with NAACP
- carries a lot of weight in the state of Texas
- even if you are anglo get involved in our organization
- you can be a teacher and also be a citizen: join this organization, your teacher organization, etc.
- operates as a grassroots level, are many issues (not just education)

Santos:
- look at website on edria
- Look at the rethinkingschools website out of Wisconsin (really have dissected NCLB)

I will make my distribution list available to everyone here

School finance can present an opportunity to bridge needs of minority interests and rural Texans
- Perry will see it as a victory if he just gets residential property tax reduced

Mendez-Morse: how do we bridge academe with advocacy?

we are partnering with multiple organizations who are criticizing the sin taxing (and taxation of polluters)
- you need to meet with editorial board

Olivarez: as a psychometrician, what if minorities were to do very well on this test, the problem would be the same because of the narrowness that is covered
- you have 9 months of intense studying and learning
- then you have this 1 time of the year when you have to recollect all this information
- looking and plainview TAKS: reliability and validity (every single item was a .80 and .90 -- very easy, only one item was .4)
-- this turns out to be a very simple test because of the narrow domain it can assess
- great surprise will be: even if we pass this test, they will still give us problems that you don't deserve to go to A&M, Yale, etc-- becuase of institutional barriers which are built up
- these tests are extremely easy, they can be passed, we need to remove the mysticism surrounding these tests

The test has no predictive validity to these tests (legislature does not want to know this)
- my book Oct 2nd: "Leaving Children Behind"
- relationship of test scores is a NEGATIVE correlation: the only thing going up in Texas are the test scores
- legislatures are complaining that they are spending too much money on remediation

Hartmeister: HOB 1641 made it illegal for graduate and professional programs (graduate programs at any Texas public education) to attach any weight to GRE scores
- don't our legislatures see this is disingenuous (treatment of grad students vs K-12?)

One of our models is looking at higher-ed institutions and the robust models they use
- bottom line is legislators don't want to hear this: they are the crafters of the Texas miracle

Olivarez: is the key to reform changing the parents? (getting them more involved in schooling, including testing)

Midabuche: look and parent situations and asking them to be involved and be accountability on top of surviving may be too much

Santos: we have to continue (with Closing the Gaps and other ways) getting involved with those in our community, legislators, etc
- need to pull it all together

Need to connect the dots

Benevides: Steve Murdock's presos on outlook for Texas
- broken down by region, has specific focus for West Texas
- 2035 73% of all high school graduates will be hispanic
- people should be understanding this number

This is why the ruling powers want to privatize (because of these demographic changes)
- I like the lines to be drawn: this clarifies things
- with redistricting, and now school finance
- Jorge Chapa in California work in 90s: aging baby boomers and their movement, biggest voting block, try to support policies that reflect their interests
- you are going to have a primarily Latino workforce sandwiched between aging baby boomer population
-- ending of "generational compact" - current generation's responsibility to take care of the next
-- now: I am going to take care of myself and damn everyone else
-- this really portends social strife
-- there is a point beyond which this group cannot be pinched more
-- this means either more strife or more represson
-- our legislative session right now will be a very important session for our future and our grandchildren

 

<-- Return to Wesley's Notes