More Common Core

[Chris_Wendt]

Here's More Common Core

I chuckled when I read the headline: King: NY Poised to Lead the Nation in Common Core! And he may be technically correct, too. On Wednesday I had lunch with three guidance counselors and fifteen students from a high school in CT. CT has NOT implemented Common Core Assessments, and this high school is not a field test school for the SBA Consortium's CC Assessments this year. But the Common Core Curriculum came up in conversation, and was universally boo-hoo'ed. As it turns out, NY's (King's) messed-up implementation of our version of the CC Assessments has inspired a broad 'Opt-Out" movement in CT. The teachers chided me on using the term "Opt-Out", pointing out specifically that there is no "Opt-Out", and apparently CT has gone to great lengths to eliminate that phraseology among teachers and parent groups. They simply call it "refusal to be tested". Now all states are still required to test (assess) under NCLB, so CT still uses there own state exams for ELA and Math in Grades 3-8. I heard that one grade in their Middle School had about an 85% refusal rate on last month's ELA assessments. Well done, Commissioner King!

These teachers told me that most of the math teachers in the district have hired out to parents for Common Core math tutoring, including even students in Kindergarten!

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In other news, NYSED finally published the 2013 School/District Report Cards. But they radically and nefariously altered the way data is presented, under the guise of making the data easier for parents to understand. So everything is presented in what looks like an HTML version of PowerPoint, with frames and nice blue boxes containing numbers, and many percentages. There are no more Excel spreadsheets provided which people like me, or the media could use to analyze any of the data, and the html layout makes it impossible to copy-and-paste data into a spreadsheet for analysis. Nope, the only way to analyze 2013 performance data is to open each district's report card, and write down the data on a piece of paper, and then copy it, by re-typing, manually, it into a blank spreadsheet.

Undeterred, I have undertaken to assess the then-nascent "Opt-Out" movement which started with last year's (2013) ELA & Math NY CC Assessments. I needed the school district report cards to track and match-back test takers by grade level in 2013 with their cohort groups in 2012, as well as the current year enrollment by grade levels. Just for my own interest, I decided to compare Wantagh with Rockville Centre and Comsewogue (both currently hotbeds of opting out).

Here are the results of the three districts for student participation is the 2013 Grade 3-8 ELA & Math CC Assessments:

District	Enrolled 3-8	ELA Opt-Out #	ELA Opt-Out %	Math Opt-Out #	Math Opt-Out %
Wantagh	1547	83	5%	110	7%
Comsewogue	1714	62	4%	100	6%
Rockville Centre	1645	344	21%	363	22%

Note that in each district the numbers and percentages of opt-outs increased from the earlier ELA Assessments to the later Math Assessments in 2013.

Not immediately evident was some increase of opting-out for higher grade levels (3->8)

For ELA the % Opting-out progression in each district looked like this, last year (2013):

Grade Level	Wantagh	Comsewogue	Rockville Centre
Grade 3	8%	0%	8%
Grade 4	8%	2%	7%
Grade 5	5%	1%	10%
Grade 6	3%	1%	23%
Grade 7	6%	4%	22%
Grade 8	2%	11%	52%

For Math the Opting-out % progression in each district looked like this, last year (2013):

Grade Level	Wantagh	Comsewogue	Rockville Centre
Grade 3	11%	0%	8%
Grade 4	9%	2%	8%
Grade 5	7%	1%	10%
Grade 6	4%	2%	28%
Grade 7	7%	3%	28%
Grade 8	6%	24%	46%

So, you can see that, for the most part, primary and intermediate grades were not involved in the first year's Opting-Out festivities. Wantagh's results could certainly have been attributable to normal absenteeism, and I could accept that premise if it were not for the strident agitation against the Common Core on the part of our Provocateur-in-Chief, Don Sternberg. Also indicative of at least a nascent opt-out movement in Wantagh last year was the fact that Wantagh had more students miss the assessments (193 combined ELA+Math) than Comsewogue (with only 162 combined ELA+Math), while Comsewogue had a larger enrollment (1,714) than Wantagh did (1,547) in 2013.

Next, I will try to demonstrate the negative effects the 2013 NY ELA & Math CC Assessments had on students; NOT the students who did well, but all the OTHER students who flunked Commissioner King's tests.

Regards,

Chris Wendt

 

[Chris_Wendt]

LI Students sitting-out the 2014 NY Common Core Math Assessments this week.
(Credit: Uli Seit & Newsday.com)

The story is similar to last year, when the number of students refusing to sit for NY Common Core Assessments increased from the earlier ELA Assessments to the later Math Assessments. This year, with about half of LI districts responding to a voluntary query, in round numbers, 9,000 refused to take the ELA tests while 11,000 refused the Math exams. That could reflect 18,000 and 22,000, respectively, but the polling was not scientific, and as was the case last year, test refusal rates were widely divergent across many districts and even across grade levels within districts, so there is no homogeneous trending to test refusals.

That means Test Refusing is a leadership issue, or, a lack-of-leadership issue, or, an issue of which leaders are more effective in what districts or among which parent organizations. It also demonstrates the willingness of parents to be led by effective leaders, either toward or away from dubious governmental programs, as NY's Common Core Assessments have proven to be.

I reiterate, for effect: "It also demonstrates the willingness of parents to be led by effective leaders, either toward or away from dubious governmental programs, as NY's Common Core Assessments have proven to be." Think about this. Had Regents Chancellor Tisch and Education Commissioner King been effective leaders, then NY's Common Core Assessments would not bear the distinctions: "dubious", "controversial", "excessive", "high-stakes" and the host of other negative connotations the media has slathered all over the Common Core Assessments in our state.

But that goes to the heart of what constitutes effective leadership, or in the case of Tisch and King, what are the hallmarks of ineffectual leadership. Dictatorial attitudes, failure to listen to key constituencies, inflexibility, and lack of mature wisdom (as evidenced by ramming through the untested tests two full years ahead of the rest of the nation), these are the hallmarks of failed tyranny on the part of the highest ""professional"" ""educational"" ""leaders"" in NY State.

But emerging in importance for parents is this question: what are you and your children left with? A Commissioner who can't stand safely before audiences of parents in most places in the state? Test results that are essentially meaningless for lack of "commonality" with any other state tests, because, except for Kentucky, there will be no other state using the same tests as NY until next year, and even Kentucky's tests are different from those in NY? Ratings and rankings that don't hold water, statistically, because there is now a statistically significant group of test refusals that have destroyed the statistical validity of all the comparative and ranking and rating results? A state education system which has fallen into the hands of politicians at every level of government to now be used as a political football and election platform planks from town halls to the halls of Congress?

The next question, then. MUST be: What are YOU going to do about this mess? What are you going to do about the pathetic leadership vacuum among the Board of Regents and the NYSED and its ersatz commissioner? Hint: Opting-Out is NOT the answer, but it certainly has proven to be an EFFECTIVE tactic. The mere fact that I have written this and that you are reading it proves the effectiveness of the Opt-Out tactic in this war.

War? War. There is a lot at stake here, in NY State and in our schools, in your child's classroom! And take careful note: your child goes through our schools only once. and this is her (his) big chance in life! YOU need a better voice, an effective voice in the process of public education, which (unfortunately, and unconstitutionally) presently starts in Washington, filters through the various state education departments, and finally must be sorted-out by your (Wantagh) school board and its beleaguered administrators, who have essentially been reduced to the role of PAWNS of US Education Secretary Arne Duncan.


Arne Duncan, No Friend of White Suburban Moms
(Credit: npr.org)

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My closing thought is this gem:

"The math tests, which reflect the controversial Common Core learning standards, began Wednesday and ended Friday. Placed before 1.2 million children statewide, the exams are more difficult than the ones used in years past. Most children failed the tests in 2013."

Most children failed the tests in 2013. Stunning.

Chris Wendt

[Chris_Wendt]

Wantagh & Seaford School Districts are slowly but finally coming on board the Opt-Out program.
For the 2014 ELA Assessments in early April, both districts declined to provide data to Newsday who was compiling data on District Opt-Out experience.
For the 2014 Math Assessments in late April-early May, both districts did provide data to Newsday on their Opt-Out experiences:

District	# Eligible	Opted-Out #	% "Opted-Out"
Wantagh UFSD	1,444	262	18%
Seaford UFSD	1,049	331	32%

I am not sure what to read-into the disparity—3:5—in the percentages between Wantagh (18%) and Seaford (32%).
What do you think?

Chris Wendt

[Chris_Wendt]

Okay, as promised, here's a look at how the 2013 NY Common Core ELA & Math Assessments impacted 301+ actual children in Wantagh.
The methodology was to follow the progress of a cohort of the same 301+ students over the past six (6) years, as they moved along from 3rd Grade through 8th Grade.
This report indicates the percentage of those 301+ students who scored 3 or 4 ("passing" or, performing at or above grade level) each year and grade.

Wantagh UFSD (Source: NYSED)

Year	Grade	ELA	Math	Tested	Class #
2008	3rd	90%	97%	308-308	308
2009	4th	94%	97%	306-306	307
2010	5th	72%	87%	305-306	306
2011	6th	75%	88%	300-301	302
2012	7th	77%	92%	302-302	302
2013	8th	47%	46%	294-284	301

Key:
Year = Assessment Year (April/May testing)
Grade = the then current grade level of this cohort of 301+ students
ELA & Math = the percentage of students scoring '3' or '4' on the respective assessment, ELA or Math
Tested = the number of students who sat for the ELA and for the Math assessments, respectively, in each year.
Class # = the number (size) of the cohort group, who are by-and-large the same students each year reported.

2013 was the first year the Common Core Assessments were used.  
3rd through 8th Grades are the specified grades in which students are subjected to NCLB or Common Core State Assessments.

Well? What do you think about the validity, the value, the cost, in terms of student self-esteem, self-image, self-confidence, and the "desire" or reticence of students and their parents to repeat this dismal (2013) experience in 2014, 2015, etc.?

Yours,

Chris Wendt

[Chris_Wendt]

He was speaking rather pointedly to the mothers of Wantagh's students when...

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan told a group of state schools superintendents November 15, 2013, that he found it “fascinating” that some of the opposition to the Common Core State Standards has come from “white suburban moms who — all of a sudden — their child isn’t as brilliant as they thought they were, and their school isn’t quite as good as they thought they were.”
-The Washington Post

And here he is, now...

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan
He is fascinated by YOU! Fascinated....
Photo credit: Jacquelyn Martin, Associated Press

Do YOU want this man in charge of YOUR CHILD's EDUCATION?

Food for thought.

Chris Wendt
 

[Chris_Wendt]

I was analyzing a number of other school districts and systems (Big 5 City School Systems) and the thought occurred to me, what would a longitudinal review of a single cohort show for the entire state? The one and only best cohort would be the Class of 2017, because they are the only group of students with a complete record of state ELA and Math Assessments from 3rd Grade to 8th Grade, and which included the first year of data for the so-called "Common Core-based Assessments" last year.

In round numbers, this cohort, or class, consists of 200,000 students now in 9th Grade across the state.  Not surprisingly, the detailed results were full of surprises!

• Surpise #1 Despite Long Island, especially including Wantagh, experiencing a protracted period of "declining enrollment", this cohort, the Class of 2017, has grown by 5% over the 6-year period from 2007-2013 from 191,179 students to 200,549 students.
  
  
• Surpise #2 In three (3) of the six (6) assessment years, more students were tested than were enrolled in the cohort grade level; you will see this in the chart, below. Not surprisingly, 2013 was NOT one of those years, but was the year with the smallest percentage of enrolled students (8th Graders) taking the (Common Core-based) Assessments, but only 1.4% abstained.
• Surpise #3 In five (5) of the six (6) years reported, this cohort performed significantly better on the Math Assessments than they did on the ELA Assessments; ONLY in Year 6, 2013 (Common Core-based Assessments) did this group (then 8th Graders) out-perform themselves in Math compared to ELA; the chart will indicate this as a big swing in Math vs ELA performance among these students.
• Surpise #4 Starting at the top of either or both the ELA or Math % columns and run your finger down through the years and you will note how screwed-up public education is and has been in NY State: a marked decline, year-to-year, among the same group (cohort) of children, indicating, to me, that we do not know how to assess student performance in this state, and probably never did.
• Surpise #5 The "bottom line" on the Common Core-based Assessment results was that, all across NY State last year, in round numbers, 55,000 then 8th Graders "Passed" both ELA & Math Assessments, while 140,000 8th Graders FLUNKED at least one Assessment and 130,000 FLUNKED BOTH!

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Here is the analysis:

NY State Class of 2017 Cohort
ELA & Math Assessment Performance

Year	Grade	ELA	Math	Tested	Class #
2008	Third	76%	93%	198,219	191,179
2009	Fourth	77%	87%	195,827	190,082
2010	Fifth	54%	66%	200,442	198,661
2011	Sixth	56%	63%	198,287	200,626
2012	Seventh	52%	65%	200,292	200,307
2013	Eighth	34%	28%	197,652	200,549

Key:
Year = Assessment Year (April/May testing)
Grade = the then current grade level of this cohort of ~200,000 students
ELA & Math = the percentage of students scoring '3' or '4' on the respective assessment, ELA or Math
Tested = the number of students who sat for the ELA and for the Math assessments, respectively, in each year.
Class # = the number (size) of the cohort group, who are by-and-large the same students each year reported.*
* Class # (Enrollment) is taken and reported as of October of each school year; the assessments are administered (and counted) in April & May of each school year, six months later.

2013 was the first year the Common Core Assessments were used.
3rd through 8th Grades are the specified grades in which students are subjected to NCLB or Common Core State Assessments.

Your comments welcome.

Regards,

Chris Wendt

[Chris_Wendt]

Step back from the fray over the Common Core which has engulfed parents of students in 3rd through 8th Grade, and take a moment to realize that a more important requirement for college or career readiness is actually completing high school and graduating. What are the results of our planning, our teaching, and our spending money on public schools, after 4 years of high school? In Wantagh, we graduate 98%, 99%, or 100% of our students with great regularity. But Wantagh is only one small school district among ~700 districts in NY. A significant amount of our (Wantagh's) state tax money goes to educate students in the rest of the state, and every Wantagh Tax Dollar spent someplace else in the state is a dollar NOT being spent in Wantagh, on Wantagh's students.

So, in terms of the state's children completing high school and graduating after 4 years, how is that working out?

Year	Cohort (Class)	Graduated	Did Not
(June)	Size (Number)	Percent	Graduate
2011	223,120	74%	58,011
2012	221,228	77%	50,882
2013	221,257	77%	50,889

Twenty three percent not graduating after 4 years of high school...more than 50,000 kids per year not finishing high school with the rest of their class.

Billy Joel might ask, "Is THAT all you get for your MONEY?"

The Roosevelt Union Free School District, about 3 miles from Wantagh, saw their ELA & Math (Common Core) Assessment Scores drop into the single digits for Grades 6-7-8 in 2013; their 7th Grade Math proficiency percent was a big fat ZERO!. The 2013, 4-year cohort graduation rate in Roosevelt was a measly 73%, with only 4% receiving a Regents Diploma with an Advanced Designation, and zero Regents Diplomas with CTE Endorsements.

Is that all we get for our money?

Is cranking-up the rigor any solution to improving graduation numbers and rates in Roosevelt and elsewhere in NY State?

Food for thought!

Chris Wendt