State SOS: Hold the line for standards-based assessments
No matter which side of the boat you’re on, it’s clear that the education sector is navigating choppy waters, and not just on the federal level.
Take Texas House Bill 4, which seeks to replace the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) with a shorter, norm-referenced assessment administered three times per year, in addition to changes to the state accountability system.
This proposal will sound appealing to some in theory, but a look at the details gives cause for serious alarm.
Norm-referenced assessments compare students to one another, not to a standard of learning. Such assessments can help teachers identify that, for example, a student is falling behind their peers in reading comprehension skills at the mid-year check-in, so the teacher can work with the student and their family to strengthen that skill.
While these types of assessments can be valuable, they cannot replace the use of criterion-based assessments, which measure against state grade-level standards. Under Texas’s proposed legislation, a classroom of students in an elementary school in Fort Worth may receive high scores on the norm-based assessment because they outperformed their peers in neighboring schools, regardless of the fact that these students are over two grade levels behind where they should be according to the state standards (this scenario isn’t that far-fetched; the average student in Fort Worth is 2.67 grade levels behind in reading as of the 2023-24 school year). The norm-referenced assessment would not flag that the elementary school is in need of additional support from the state.
The summative assessment does not provide a full picture of a student’s academic progress, but it is an important tool for identifying schools and districts in which students (or certain student groups) are not meeting grade-level standards. Once identified, the state can provide additional support and monitoring to ensure all students are being prepared for a successful future.
As we move toward a landscape where states may have increasing autonomy, it is essential to maintain rigorous standards for school and district outcomes and a commitment to measure student progress.
At Waypoint, we are encouraged by many of our partners who are working to preserve the role of standards-based assessments as one important measure, and to help more people understand the results.
Providing actionable data: At the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University, Dr. Thomas Kane’s Education Recovery Scorecard translates changes in test scores into grade-level equivalents at the district-level, making the data more digestible to parents and the public.
Contextualizing assessment scores: The Collaborative for Student Success’ analysis of the Honesty Gap highlights the discrepancies between what a state and the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) consider to be proficient, identifying places where proficiency scores may be inflated.
Helping families be champions for their children: At Learning Heroes, resources like the Parent-Teacher Planning Tool help families ask important questions about their child’s grade-level progress in reading and math and team up for success.
Fostering a community who cares: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Business Leader’s Guide to School Board Engagement helps business leaders be champions for education in their communities by equipping them with the knowledge and questions to ask school board members about how they are using education data to make strategic decisions for their district.
Developing sustainable policy solutions: The Bipartisan Policy Center’s Commission on the American Workforce is examining the federal role in developing human capital, including how to measure and transparently report on student and school academic progress, by bringing in voices from both sides of the aisle to find common ground around shared goals.
At Waypoint, we have a unique line of sight given the diversity of the work that our partners are leading. We are excited to share those insights with you through Education Currents, our blog series, so that our friends and partners can be a part of solving for and amplifying solutions.
We invite you to get in the boat and row with us on our journey to ensure all students experience the exceptional learning they deserve.
Kate Poteet is the Associate Director of Advocacy & Communications with Waypoint Education Partners, where she helps clients spread awareness about salient education issues and cutting-edge research that impact our education systems. Connect with her at www.linkedin.com/in/kate-poteet or kpoteet@waypointed.com.