Education wake-up call is looming
Sarah Archibald & Michael Ford:
Wisconsin is about to get a wake-up call about the quality of its K-12 education system.
The Department of Public Instruction's attempt to get a waiver from the federal government's flawed No Child Left Behind law includes plans to increase testing standards for Wisconsin pupils.
According to the DPI, the effect of this change will be "dramatic" because while Wisconsin students will take the same test they do now, they'll need much higher scores to be deemed proficient.
Currently, 83% of eighth-graders who take the Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Exam are said to be proficient in reading, for example. Under the proposal to index scores to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, that percentage would plummet to just 35%.
In other words, state testing next year will show substantially fewer Wisconsin pupils proficient in core subjects.
More rigorous standards will demand smarter instruction. Fortunately, Wisconsin is well-positioned to use value-added analyses of standardized tests as a tool to improve instructional decisions in ways that benefit students.
Using Value-Added Analysis to Raise Student Achievement in Wisconsin.
www.wisconsin2.org
Posted by Jim Zellmer at June 6, 2012 5:33 AM
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