They Don't Count!

[Chris_Wendt]

Stats flying all over the blog-sphere and the online media about who opted which way for or against the NY State Common Core-aligned ELA Assessments administered, yesterday. I am going to let the dust settle on those numbers and percentages before commenting about the Opt-Out movement. However there was one quote, in Newsday, from the NY State Education Department (NYSED) that bears noting:

Jonathan Burman, spokesman for the state Education Department, said his office...

"doesn't track the number of students who refuse the tests".

I find that statement (expletive) unbelievable!

You should too.

Chris Wendt

[Chris_Wendt]

How do I know that NYSED's Jonathan Burman was lying through his teeth when he stated NYSED... 


"...doesn't track the number of students who refuse the tests"?

Let's go, first, to the NYS School/District Report Cards:
Here's Wantagh's for 2011-12: reportcards.nysed.gov/files/2011-12/ACC-2012-280223030000.pdf

This is the Accountability Report, and one exists for the entire school district as well as for each school in the district.
After scanning Pages 2 & 3, take a closer look at Page 4, "Elementary/Middle-Level ELA: Participation". 
Now note the last two column headings: "Students Enrolled During the Test Administration Period", and,
"Percent of Enrolled Students with Valid Test Scores".  

Finally, look at all of the official disaggregations of the student population in the first column:

• All Students
  
• American Indian or Alaska Native
• Black or African American
• Hispanic or Latino
• Asian, etc.
• White
• Multiracial
• Students with Disabilities
• Limited English Proficient
• Economically Disadvantaged

Now consider that this same data is reported (browse through the whole Accountability Report) for every assessment in every grade in each building, and for the district as a whole.
NYSED knows, and tracks, and reports on every student in every grade of every school in every district on every assessment administered in this state.  

While the last column of each of these Accountability Reports is titled "Percent of Enrolled Students with Valid Test Scores", please understand that the only way that those percentages could be calculated is by dividing the number of test takers by the Students Enrolled (second-to-last column).  However, do not take this on faith.  You can go to the federal database, The Common Core of Data, where you will find, for both ELA and Math, for every grade level in every school in every state in the country a comprehensive report of Assessment Results, one column of which is labeled "NTEST", which is number of of students tested, and another column labeled "Membership", which is the number of students enrolled (in each respective grade level, school, district, and state).

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Now the question becomes...

Why is the New York State Education Department LYING about tracking students who refuse the tests?

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Another valid question, especially for those who like to look at and poke around in data for comparing and analyzing it against expectations or goals (efficacy), would be:

WHERE are the New York State Education Department School/District REPORT CARDS (and Accountability Reports) for the 2012-13 School Year? WHAT are they HIDING FROM?

YOU deserve these answers, before you allow your child to sit for another State Assessment.

Regards to all,

Chris Wendt

[Chris_Wendt]

Well—Okay...Maybe We DO TRACK Those Numbers...

Jonathan Burman, NYSED, seems to be singing a different tune, now:

"Jonathan Burman, an Education Department spokesman, said the agency will not have figures for students categorized as "not tested" until after exams have been scored and submitted and results reported publicly."

Yes, they WILL have those figures! But what about last year's figures? Read on...

"Last year, the number of students categorized as 'untested' showed an increase of 5,000 to 6,000 statewide over 2012, the state Department of Education has said."

Now, why, oh why couldn't this man give the actual number?  Because his boss, the Commissioner told him not to!  Just as NYSED has embargoed publication of the 2011-12 School/District Report Cards which would give these data for every district and school in the state.

Another senior professional LI Education Leader commented:

"People feel strength in numbers, and I really think they feel they haven't been heard," said Michael Mensch, chief operating officer of Western Suffolk BOCES. "They have been pushed to the point to do something dramatic, and this is what we cautioned."

Mensch is one of many school leaders on the Island who have strongly urged the Education Department to delay the tests and other elements of reform.

About 204,000 students on Long Island and 1.2 million statewide in grades three through eight were eligible to take the ELA exam, administered Tuesday through Thursday.
Some educators predicted the number of those who "opt out" of tests will increase when students in those grades take state math tests April 30 through May 2.
Students who refused to take the tests, in the districts that reported to Newsday, were about 10 percent of those eligible."

Here's a link to the Newsday article, "Nearly 9,500 LI Students Refuse State Exam...."

This is not over.

Chris Wendt