Some thoughts and facts on public school testing as our legislature grapples with Common Core standards and PARCC:
Yes, politics sometimes makes for strange bedfellows. But many conservative Republicans have apparently joined hands with the teachers union, the Colorado Education Association. That’s like Elizabeth Warren and Ron Paul getting between the sheets — figuratively speaking, of course.
Both factions oppose standardized testing. The right-wingers feel that government has no place setting standards or demanding accountability from local school districts. In a perfect world, I’d agree.
But we live in the real world. Perhaps accountability for the quality of education can be left up to school boards, administrators and parents in smaller, rural districts. But in larger urban districts, the union often supports and elects school boards that support its agenda.
Superintendents are always subject to a dreaded “no confidence” vote by union members, teacher sick-outs or “impromptu” student demonstrations. Far too many parents are too busy to become involved with schools.
Teachers oppose testing because they don’t want the results used to help assess their own performance. Thus, school accountability must be demanded by federal or state government.
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Oddly, testing is greeted differently by teachers in neighboring Arizona. When state legislators there proposed to scuttle participation in Common Core, union teachers rallied in its support. The Arizona union affiliate also is on record supporting new state tests there.
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There is one easy way to put an end to the so-called “opt-out” movement, the current campaign by some parents to keep their kids from taking the tests. The Colorado Commission on Higher Education needs to make the scores part of each student’s admission application to state colleges and universities.
I noted in an earlier column that the commission was considering that because of the unreliability of many student GPAs.
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One common complaint from teachers: “It’s not fair to judge my performance when I have two or three pupils in my classes who continually disrupt and distract everyone.”
It is unfair. But it is even more unfair to the other 28 pupils in the classroom. It would be great if the National Education Association used its clout with lawmakers to help get a solution to that problem. It should be a separate item on the reform agenda.
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Worth noting: A friend has worked for a private firm that grades standardized essay tests from several states. He says criteria and instructions for grading tests vary significantly from state to state.
In his view, kids in a nearby state that has an education system with a not-so good reputation write and comprehend as well as those in a New England state, where schools have a better reputation.
The difference in results is caused by the judging criteria.
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While they debate, our legislators should keep in mind the words of Nancy Zirkin, executive director of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights: “Now is not the time to make a U-turn in holding states and school districts responsible (for their performance).”
Dick Hilker (dhilker529@aol.com) is a retired suburban Denver newspaper editor and columnist and his columns appear twice monthly in The Denver Post.
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