End of the WKCE

In a potentially important move, State Superintendent of School Tony Evers today announced plans to scrap the flawed WKCE exam. I say "potentially" because we have yet to see what form the replacement will take, however the state has been studying this issue for a couple of years and has solid set of recommendations from a task force appointed last year. The task force report can be found here.

The WSJ article on the subject can be found here.

"a really lousy test that measures lame standards"

This is an article from Tuesday's WSJ concerning standardized testing in Wisconsin, with quotes from Phil McDade and Bill Breisch. The article highlights the drive to replace the WKCE with something more useful. MGSD has taken a leading role in the effort to improve the state assessments, we already use the MAP and ACT testing, which are useful for individual assessment in ways that the WKCE is not- by the DPI's own admission:

... Schools should not rely on only WKCE data to gauge progress of individual students or to determine effectiveness of programs or curriculum...

Unfortunately we are required to administer the WKCE regardless of other assesments we might use, in the end we give up class time for both.

MAP testing in the news

Today's WSJ has a nice write-up on MAP (Measures of Academic Progress) testing used in elementary schools. It features examples of its use in the MG district by 3rd grade teachers Mary Sullivan and Kym Davick:

A recent experience illustrates its effect upon top students. Early in the fall of the 2007-08 school year, Sullivan noticed that half a dozen of her 21 students had exceptionally high math scores on the MAP test.
Sullivan and Kym Davick, another third grade teacher who also had students with high math scores, devised a plan to challenge those students, including Davick 's daughter, Anika, a student in Sullivan 's class.
Before each unit of the regular math curriculum, all students took a test to see what they already knew.
Those who scored high enough were sent into an accelerated program. For example, in a unit focusing upon measuring lines and volume, the high-flying students were given more complex problems.
The flexible grouping worked.
MAP tests this spring showed that all students ' math skills progressed well, and the skills of Anika and many of her peers advanced nearly twice as many points as would have been expected for students with similar skills.
"This group did amazing things because we were diligent about the instruction, " Davick said. "That 's what 's happening everywhere. "

It takes time to develop these sorts of strategies, as teachers become familiar with the power of the tools they have at their disposal.

2007 WKCE

The results for the WKCE test administered in November 2007 were finally released on May 30th. That is more than six months after the test was given. Worse, the data files containing the detailed results that can be used for proper statistical analysis of the results are STILL not available for download. Assessments are information that degrades over time. The fact that it takes six months to get the data out (whatever its other shortcomings) cheats the taxpayers of the full value of their investment.

At the very least the WI DPI should be embarrassed by the fact it takes this long to release the test results. Personally I find it outrageous. I had an email exchange with DPI officials concerning this long delay and the loss of value, this is an excerpt from part of that response (italics mine):

... The WKCE is a large-scale assessment designed to provide a snapshot of how well a district or school is doing at helping all students reach proficiency on state standards, with a focus on school and district-level accountability. A large-scale, summative assessment such as the WKCE is not designed to provide diagnostic information about individual students. Those assessments are best done at the local level, where immediate results can be obtained. Schools should not rely on only WKCE data to gauge progress of individual students or to determine effectiveness of programs or curriculum.

Does anyone else find the fact that the state issues WKCE results to individual students surprising given the above statement?

Anyhow - the WKCE results were published in the WSJ and on the Cap Times website. As in previous years they show Monona Grove near the top in Dane County, with Waunakee out in front. We do well against tough competition, Dane County schools average the highest in the state.

Ed O'Connor notes that the MG 3rd Grade scores as printed in the paper appear to be incorrect:

The numbers reported in the WSJ (79% Reading/74% Math) are inconsistent with reports we have received from CTB McGraw-Hill and reports provided on the DPI WINSS site. These other sources both show our percent of students at Proficient/Advanced to be 84% for Reading and 81% for Math.

The DPI website agrees with Ed's numbers.

I will do a little analysis when the DPI posts the results files and get back to you when I can. I neither want to put too much emphasis on a flawed assessment nor speak about what it shows without proper analysis.