Education & Affordable Housing
The National Association of Education Progress recently released fourth and eighth grade reading and math scores on the “Nation’s Report Card.” Shirley J. Neely, the state’s Commissioner of Education summarized Texas results recently by saying, “Texas students outperformed the national average on three of four NAEP tests.”
But a closer look at how “Report Card” scores are generated in Texas suggests parents and the media should be skeptical of Commissioner Neely’s remarks.
The “Report Card” excludes students with disabilities or are “English language learners” from taking the tests. NAEP does not give the tests to those that can only read or do math in a foreign language or have a special education-related need in taking the tests.
On the other hand, state achievement tests, such as the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills test, do make provisions for these special circumstances and include these students in its testing programs.
Eleven percent of fourth and eighth grade students selected to take the 2005 NAEP reading tests were excluded in Texas because they had learning disabilities or were English language learners. Only three states excluded a higher percentage of its students' reading sample: Delaware (13 percent), Louisiana (14 percent) and Virginia (12 percent).
NAEP excluded six percent of Texas fourth and eighth graders with disabilities or language problems from taking its math tests. Only Delaware, where eight percent of the sampled students were excluded for these reasons, eliminated a higher percentage of students from the NAEP math test.
Critics believe if every student on every selected campus does not have the same chance of being chosen to take the test, if the student sample is not random or if all Texas schools are not sampling students in the same way “Report Card” scores are meaningless.
Dr. Walter Haney, a Boston College education professor and an expert witness in the recent Texas public school finance court cases, says NAEP grade-level results are further and inevitably confounded with the rates at which kids are being held back or failed.
“This means that in states with high levels of grade retention, the (NAEP) grade samples are sampling older students that are more likely to do well,” Haney said.
According to Haney, Texas is a state with relatively high levels of grade retention, thus the NAEP scores are further distorted.
The card is the only nationally representative and continuing assessment of what American students know and can do in various subject areas. NAEP reports scores for individual states and the nation but not for individual schools or students.
The U.S. Commissioner of Education Statistics in the US Department of Education is responsible by law for carrying out the “Report Card” project.
Critics say parents should call on Commissioner Neely to make the student selection process on the “Nation’s Report Card” more transparent and fully explain what the NAEP scores mean and what they do not mean.
The same critics contend Neely should also make it clear that NAEP scores are significantly different from state test scores and must be interpreted differently. Thus, parents and legislators would better understand how public schools are doing in educating all Texas children.
© Copyright World Internet News 2006-07
Top of Page
| 
