Posted on 06/12/2007 9:20:56 AM PDT by Pareto Optimal
Phoenix—The just-released Arizona State Report Card says that “Arizona students perform above the national average” on national tests. But a new study from the Goldwater Institute exposes several flaws in the Arizona student testing system that cast doubt on the reliability of that claim.
The Report Card states that a national test called the TerraNova shows Arizona students perform above the national average. But, the Goldwater Institute study, A Test of Credibility: NAEP versus TerraNova Test Score Results in Arizona, reveals that Arizona students take a modified version of TerraNova, which means their test scores cannot be accurately compared to the test scores of students in other states.
In addition, the claim that Arizona students test above average does not square with the results on another national test. The well-respected National Assessment of Educational Progress, also known as the Nation’s Report Card, shows Arizona students test below the national average in all grade levels and subjects.
“The Arizona Department of Education has a responsibility to the public to report all test results,” said Darcy Olsen, president of the Goldwater Institute. “Arizona’s NAEP scores should be a red flag for lawmakers and excluding them from the Report Card paints a rose-colored portrait of student performance.”
The Goldwater Institute report analyzes Arizona’s administration of the TerraNova and finds the state does not follow sound testing practices. The state undermines the validity of the test results by selecting only a very small number of questions from the national TerraNova and “embedding” the questions within the AIMS test. Many of the chosen TerraNova questions mirror the state’s AIMS standards that are being taught in classrooms every day. In essence, Arizona teachers are teaching to the TerraNova questions. This process inflates Arizona’s TerraNova scores. As a result, the authors find Arizona’s scores cannot be compared to scores from other states.
“The TerraNova is a fine test, but the way the state has chosen to administer it renders the results unreliable,” said Dr. Matthew Ladner, Goldwater Institute vice president for research and co-author of the report.
The NAEP is administered by the U.S. Department of Education and is not subject to manipulation at the state, district or school level. Because the same exam questions are given to students in all states, the scores can be compared across states. Arizona students perform below the national average in all grade levels and subjects tested.
Arizona’s testing requirements were adopted in order to provide transparency to parents, lawmakers, and school officials on student learning. Dr. Ladner recommends Arizona remove TerraNova questions from the AIMS exam and administer a separate national test in order to ensure accurate results.
John McCain flunked.
It does not allow for bilingual testing, the test must be taken in English with no help or tutoring.
Both facts were left out of the story.
The high school AIMS may be focused on 10th grade learning levels, but the DPA test discussed in the article is not administered to students above the eighth grade.
The fact that test is administered only in English helps the case that the DPA is not a sound comparison to the nationwide TerraNova test.
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