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Welcome to Laurie Goodman's blog. I use this space to share news and opinions about education and schools in Ridgewood, the state of New Jersey and the nation, in addition to other issues I'm personally interested in. I invite you to share your thoughts, feelings, questions or opinions, too, by posting comments on any blog entry. Please observe basic courtesy -- keep your comments focused on issues, no personal attacks or bullying, please. Contact me directly at: lauriegood@mac.com

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

New Math Supervisor Grades 6-12

At the Board of Ed meeting Monday night (7/28), we approved the hiring of Daniel Ilaria as our new Mathematics Supervisor for Grades 6-12. Mr. Ilaria is a graduate of Drew University and Rutgers, and most recently worked as Supervisor of Mathematics for the Springfield Public School District. I had a chance to meet Mr. Ilaria and he seems like a nice guy and smart. He will be starting in Ridgewood just as soon as his current employer releases him. 

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Test Scores

The NJ state Board of Education recently changed the so-called "cut scores" for proficiency and advanced proficiency in grades 5-8, in language arts and math. Before the change, a score of 33%-46% was considered "proficient." The new cutoffs are:
6th Grade Language Arts: 53% = Proficient; 76% = Advanced Proficient
6th Grade Math: 50% = Proficient; 82% = Advanced Proficient
8th Grade Language Arts: 55% = Proficient; 74% = Advanced Proficient
8th Grade Math: 50% = Proficient; 77% = Advanced Proficient
These new cutoffs will be applied to the tests that were taken last spring.

So...I have several thoughts about this. The first one is surprise that a score of 33% on any test could be described as "proficient" in that subject. Really? So, following this logic, 47% was called "advanced proficient." And then what...does that mean, say, 60% would be considered "perfect?"

I don't know the history of how these scores and labels were developed, but it reminds me of Starbucks' marketing...you know, where "Tall" is the smallest drink? 

It's frustrating for parents and community members (and this BOE member) to learn about the low cut-offs, and I have to say it does seem to be a good move to raise the cutoffs. Honestly, does it seem crazy to expect "proficient" to mean 50% or more? Not to me. I think it will help us have a much more realistic picture of how our students are doing, how well they are actually learning.

HOWEVER, you realize what this means, right? When Ridgewood gets its scores for grades 5-8 testing from last spring, many students who would have scored "proficient" under the previous system will now miss the cutoff. Same thing for Advanced Proficient. Bottom line, even though our students' numerical scores (and their actual performance) may have improved, our numbers of proficient and advanced proficient will go down. This will upset some people -- even though it should not. All of the first scores using the new system will be like re-setting the gauge. It makes it harder for us to compare this year's performance to last, but it doesn't affect our ability to compare our students' performance to that of other districts. Also (and this is the state's stated reason for the change), we should be able to better identify those students who need help. Perhaps any student who falls from Proficient to Partial Proficient should immediately be given some sort of remedial or special attention.

Statewide, there are concerns that some groups and some schools will not make AYP in the No Child Left Behind sweepstakes. I'm sure that will happen...and then those schools will be punished...even though students' actual performance may have improved. Maybe  the NCLB police will take this into consideration. In any event, it will definitely add to the NCLB drama.

It's too bad the only scores the district gets are these "proficient" or "advanced proficient" numbers. I wonder if there is any way to get the actual numbers, the actual scores. That would allow us to track our own students more carefully. Even better, wouldn't it be great if we could get test scores broken down into smaller areas, for example, in addition to an overall "math" score, how about scores for geometry vs. algebra...or calculations vs. word problems? Then we'd REALLY know how our instructional programs are doing. I think I'm getting a little carried away and I can already guess the answer, but I'll see what I can find out about this.

In the meantime, we'll wait for our Grades 5-8 scores to come in and see where this new rating system gets us.

Transitions

Unfortunately, I had to leave my mac.com blog and set this one up on Blogspot. I loved the look of the mac blog, and it was easy to use, but it has a few glitches in it that were annoying. If I can figure out how to work around the glitches, or if Apple upgrades their iWeb software, I may put my blog back there. But for now, this will be my new blog location. Please bookmark it or subscribe to an RSS feed to stay up to date. 

Please note, however, that my website web.mac.com/lauriegood will remain online. I have kept a section called "Election 08 Issues," which is basically the pages that were live on my site during the 2008 election. I am keeping those pages active so that I (and you) can check back and see if I'm living up to the goals and opinions that I stated back then. 

Between mac.com's problems and my vacation, I have not done much posting recently. It is summer, after all. But I feel like we're on the "downhill" side, with Fall approaching. I'm starting to think about the new school year and, as I do, I will be posting more about the Board of Ed. I do hope you will keep reading and perhaps even respond now and then, and participate in the conversation.