Let's Look at those Crappy ELA Scores in Wantagh

[Chris_Wendt]

Plot WUFSD 2014 ELA Proficiency Scores by G....pdf (87.99 KB)

The above attachment is a pdf file which graphically depicts a disturbing trend in the ELA proficiency scores, disaggregated for each of our three elementary schools and the middle school, as well as for the district as a whole. The data are taken directly from the NYSED website for the 2014 English Language Arts ELA (Common Core-based) Assessments, and reflect "unmatched" scores, meaning, the scores of all 2014 Wantagh test-takers, regardless if they were also tested in 2013 or not.

We seem to start out fair in 3rd Grade, but deteriorate significantly by sixth and seventh grades. The scores for Forest Lake, while they can be explained-away, are not reflective of what should be Wantagh's educational standards. I think the variances and variations among the three elementary schools scream out for consideration of implementing a Princeton Plan approach to our elementary school attendance zones. This is particularly so because of our generally lackluster district-wide ELE results which are in their second straight year of decline.

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Proficiency Scores refer to students who scored 3 or 4 on the 2014 NYS EAL Common Core-based Assessments, and are expressed as percentages of the total number of students tested in each respective grade level and at each resepective school, as well as for the total district.

If this attachment function does not work for you, please email me at chriswendt117@gmail and I will send you a copy.

Regards,

Chris Wendt

[Chris_Wendt]

Another consideration for what these inconsistent results may be showing us--that there may be some teachers who are less than effective when it comes to teaching the Common Core Curriculum--is that the 2013 and the 2014 Common Core-based assessments were NOT USED to rate the performance of any teachers. Ergo sequitur that all of Wantagh's teachers were rated "Effective", yet our students' ELA performance was pretty crappy, on balance, will remain a big, fuzzy question mark.

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So, to whatever extent ineffective teachers may have been responsible for your kid or your kid's school not demonstrating grade-level proficiency in ELA, such effectiveness problems will not be detected for another 2-3 years. I mean, other than by persistenly crappy ELA Assessment scores on into the future.

Just saying...

Re-attaching graph...Plot WUFSD 2014 ELA Proficiency Scores by G....pdf (87.99 KB)

Chris Wendt

[Chris_Wendt]

Later we will have a look at how Wantagh's 2014 ELA scores stack-up against Seaford, Levittown, and Bay Shore schools, grade level by grade level.

Stay tuned, as they used to say.

Chris Wendt

[Chris_Wendt]

Okay, every year when the NYSED School/District Report Cards come out, the BoE and the Central Admin Team put on a dog-and-pony show featuring a PowerPoint presentation with nice clip art features, and a comparison to convenient other districts which comparison either makes Wantagh look good, or at least provides cover for our blemishes. Anything that needs to be explained-away, but for which there isn't a good explanation, is simply labeled as being "not statistically significant", in the hope that no one will challenge that assertion, like your child's future college admission officer.

For the 2014 Common Core-based ELA Assessments, I have provided a less convenient graphic that shows how relatively crappy Wantagh's proficiency results were in comparison not only to the usual suspects, but to some of the better districts in our very own county. I mean, you and I are all paying outrageous school taxes, and I think we have the right to expect outrageously good results for our efforts. So how did we fare?

Multi-District Graphic.pdf (91.53 KB) This pdf file is only visible to members who are logged-on, so please log on in order to view it. In the alternative, email me at [e-mail] and I will be happy to send you the file.

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When looking at the comparison, any number of probative questions should form in your mind about why our results suck so badly. You have to wonder, if Wantagh kids are not stupid (they aren't), are Wantagh parents disengaged from their children's education? Hardly! Could this be the results of inconsistent teaching proficiency? Poor leadership of the ELA Department? Lackadaisical leadership at the top of the district? When formulating the questions and your likely answers or scenarios trying to put lipstick on this pig, also consider what are Herricks, Jericho, and Syosset doing besides lavishing money on their teachers which actually produces REAL GOOD RESULTS for their students. I mean you really have got to wonder what explains this difference in performance shown in this graphic?

You could say the Common Core Curriculum is poor, or its implementation has been flawed; you could easily say the Assessments are garbage. I mean you could say any or all of that. But, except, however, the same Common Core Curriculum was implemented in the same manner and at the same time across all the districts shown, and, all the students took the same exact Common Core-based ELA Assessments in each grade level, regardless of what school they attended in what school that district was located.

You "Numbers" people out there ought to be going berserk over this comparison and the prior one I posted comparing the Wantagh school building results with one another.

Chris Wendt

[Deleted]

Sept 12, 2014 13:51:53 GMT -5 Chris_Wendt said:

Okay, every year when the NYSED School/District Report Cards come out, the BoE and the Central Admin Team put on a dog-and-pony show featuring a PowerPoint presentation with nice clip art features, and a comparison to convenient other districts which comparison either makes Wantagh look good, or at least provides cover for our blemishes. Anything that needs to be explained-away, but for which there isn't a good explanation, is simply labeled as being "not statistically significant", in the hope that no one will challenge that assertion, like your child's future college admission officer.

For the 2014 Common Core-based ELA Assessments, I have provided a less convenient graphic that shows how relatively crappy Wantagh's proficiency results were in comparison not only to the usual suspects, but to some of the better districts in our very own county. I mean, you and I are all paying outrageous school taxes, and I think we have the right to expect outrageously good results for our efforts. So how did we fare?

This pdf file is only visible to members who are logged-on, so please log on in order to view it. In the alternative, email me at [e-mail] and I will be happy to send you the file.

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When looking at the comparison, any number of probative questions should form in your mind about why our results suck so badly. You have to wonder, if Wantagh kids are not stupid (they aren't), are Wantagh parents disengaged from their children's education? Hardly! Could this be the results of inconsistent teaching proficiency? Poor leadership of the ELA Department? Lackadaisical leadership at the top of the district? When formulating the questions and your likely answers or scenarios trying to put lipstick on this pig, also consider what are Herricks, Jericho, and Syosset doing besides lavishing money on their teachers which actually produces REAL GOOD RESULTS for their students. I mean you really have got to wonder what explains this difference in performance shown in this graphic?

You could say the Common Core Curriculum is poor, or its implementation has been flawed; you could easily say the Assessments are garbage. I mean you could say any or all of that. But, except, however, the same Common Core Curriculum was implemented in the same manner and at the same time across all the districts shown, and, all the students took the same exact Common Core-based ELA Assessments in each grade level, regardless of what school they attended in what school that district was located.

You "Numbers" people out there ought to be going berserk over this comparison and the prior one I posted comparing the Wantagh school building results with one another.

Chris Wendt

The format of your graph is, in my opinion, flawed. I think a bar graph would have been a much more effective way to illustrate your point. A line graph creates the impression that you are charting the test results of the same group of children, in each school, over the course of their movement from grades 3 through 8. A bar graph is a snapshot, one that could be more easily deciphered and salient to your position.

You also raise the point "the same Common Core Curriculum was implemented in the same manner and at the same time across all the districts shown," but, to my knowledge, that is not accurate. Each and every district had and has the freedom to choose how they are going to align their own locally written curricula to the standards outlined in the Common Core. So, it would be far more productive to abandon your self-imposed competition with other districts and simply ask, "What has been and is the process in Wantagh?" When did it begin? To what degree is it being monitored, evaluated, and modified? To what degree has it been supported with staff development time, funds, and materials? To what extent are all of the teachers is each department committed to aligning their lessons to the Common Core standards? To what degree are they being held accountable for aligning their lessons? Does a teacher-by-teacher breakdown of the test scores exist? 

I also think, at the risk of delving into matters that you may dismiss as irrelevant, that we need to look at the culture of Wantagh. Has it changed? As a resident whose family has lived here since the late 60s, I think it has, for better and worse. In terms of academics, it seems like we have lost our way, with, in my opinion, far too much emphasis being placed on athletics and other extracurricular activities instead of academics. It seems that all parents in the community ever speak about anymore is sports. Perhaps, after never having been an athlete, I am being too harsh. Perhaps.

I also wonder if the cause of the low test scores could partly be attributed to the years during which Wantagh lacked cohesive leadership in the central office. Those were the years that the Common Core was first being introduced into the schools. There was also a change of leadership in the ELA department during that time. To what extent has the instability been remedied? And, more importantly, do we have the most knowledgeable administrators manning, just kidding, the operation on both the district and building levels? I also wonder about what caused the instability in the first place.

I wonder.

I am also concerned about the context in which the assessments are being framed in the schools and at home. I cannot imagine how difficult it must be for an elementary school-aged child to navigate his or her way through the sea of mixed messages and misinformation that has come to dominate the public forum concerning the Common Core. "My teacher told me to try my best on the test, but mom and dad told me not to worry about how I do on it because it really does't matter. Then, I went to school, and some of my friends said that they weren't taking the test because their moms and dads said that they are totally unfair and terrible. And you know what those kids got to do? Go to a quiet room and read anything that they wanted." By the time a kid reached his or her more rebellious middle school years, I imagine their attitude toward the test could best be summarized in two words "Screw it."

How on Earth can we expect our community's children to take the assessments seriously when they are being raised in such a confusing, for them, environment? And if they and their parents are not taking the assessments seriously, then how seriously should we look at, ponder, and gripe about the results? 

We can also take a step back and consider what, in the end, do the results, favorable or not, really mean anyway? Are they alone an accurate reflections of a successful or inadequate math and ELA programs? (I don't think so) Or, are they more indicative of what some people may consider an over or under emphasis placed strictly on test-taking skills? Ultimately, I suppose, we will see how our 3rd-8th grade students perform on more tried-and-true assessments when they enter the high school. I am speaking of the SAT and AP exams. You know, the tests that the kids and their parents will take more seriously because their scores will have a more tangible effect on future endeavors.

And, to what degree will the students who opted-out of the state assessments in elementary and middle school be prepared to perform successfully on the Common Core Regents Exams, those tests that they will need to pass if they want to earn NYS diplomas from a public school like Wantagh HS? Oh my. Have the opt-out parents taken the time to reflect on that? At whom will they point their fingers if and when their child's graduation is hanging in the balance? My grandmother used to say, "Whenever you point your finger at someone, remember that there are three more pointing right back at you." That may be food for thought a few years from now.

These issues, to me, seem to be at the heart of the matter here in Wantagh.

This isn't a contest between us and other school distrcits, for me anyway.

Just my 2 cents. 

[Chris_Wendt]

Thanks for sharing your perspectives. Rather than you and I trading ad hominem critiques about form and format, let's stick to the issue of this thread, which is the crappy results turned in by Wantagh (our students, their teachers, and the leadership of our schools, our ELA Department, and of the District as a whole). Let's not peek under the covers at the Math scores, which must have been turned in by a completely different set of (smart) Wantagh kids, with a completely different group of (competent) teachers, with a different set of (capable) leaders at their respective buildings, departments, and district. Thinking a moment on that last statement, it sounds a lot like the problem in Wantagh may be the ELA Chair Person? Of course, I don't believe that for a moment, but some parents will undoubtedly arrive at that conclusion on their own, once their own kids' EAL and Math test scores land in their mailboxes later this fall.

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Make no mistake that grades, scores, performance metrics are certainly competitive among school districts, and in two important ways:

• As objective evaluative criteria, especially as 'tie-breakers' in college acceptance decisions far down the road...
• As subjective criteria for prospective home buyers to consider when deciding into which school district they want to move, in the more immediate future.
  This one impacts, positively or negatively, demand in the housing market, which translates into real estate value (MONEY) for anyone trying to sell their home on Long Island.

As a practical matter, the way the system works, Wantagh will continue to graduate 98-99 percent of our students on-time, and "ready for college", as they have always been; 94-100 percent of our graduates, certified as being "ready for college", will do just that, go on to college, and you and I will never hear back about their future successes (or failures) as a Class of... in terms of college degrees earned, degrees actually used in the careers pursued, drop-out rates, or the need for remedial classes in English, for instance, once they matriculate.

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It could be deduced, therefore, that the Common Core ...Concept...Curriculum...Assessments... are essentially meaningless. Except, but, however, it is the Common Core Curriculum-based assessments which are driving our children's ELA, Math, (and soon Science) education, for the foreseeable future; it is the same Common Core Curriculum-based Assessments that will, sooner or later, begin to weigh increasingly more heavily on the careers of teachers and department chair people, and school leaders of all stripes. Yeah, sure, all 700 NYS school districts may theoretically be free to devise 700 different ELA curricula, and 700 different Math curricula, (and soon, 700 different Science Curricula), there will be only on ONE SET OF COMMON CORE-BASED ASSESSMENTS to be satisfied (or flunked), and only so many different textbooks and other teaching materials properly aligned with those Common Core Assessments, and it will certainly be within the scope of those few textbooks and limited teaching materials programs that any district's ELA, Math, (or Science) curriculum will evolve.

Sincerely,

Chris Wendt