Chicago, Stop Failing Students

PURE has just issued an updated proposal to Ron Huberman, detailing how Chicago Public Schools could help rather than harm the students who need help the most. By using the hundred million dollars or so that CPS spends every year to retain students to actually provide support instead of destroying self-confidence and repeating the same process expecting different results. It also includes my analysis of the sharp racial disparities of the policy.

http://pureparents.org/data/files/prompolproprev10-15-09.pdf

Oops. CPS Erroneously Sent Thousands to Summer School in 2008.

“I’m just stupid, mom.”

That was one third-grader’s response to her parents’, teacher’s and principal’s disbelief that she had to attend summer school based on the results of a state test. Never mind that Christine* was enrolled in a gifted program, nor that she got A’s and B’s, nor that she had near perfect attendance, nor that she did fantastic projects, nor that she had an intense interest in learning. Chicago Public Schools’ promotion policy throws all that out the window if either the math or reading test score of a student comes back below the 24th percentile.

Christine’s did.

Her self-confidence was blown. She came to hate school because of a terrible experience in a summer school program that focused on test preparation. Her parents moved so that she could attend a new school in the Fall.

When Christine’s parents got another printout of Christine’s scores from her new school last Fall, it said she should have passed.

Chicago Public Schools bases their promotion policy on the Illinois Standardized Achievement Test, despite warnings sent with the test that explicitly prohibits such a policy. Because of that policy, Chicago Public School students were hit hardest by erroneous test scores sent back by the state on June 2, 2008. After Chicago Public School students had already been sent to summer school on the basis of those scores, the state had subcontractor Pearson re-equate and re-score the tests. After the re-scoring, 8,514 students in 3rd, 6th and 8th grade moved from below the CPS cutoff point of 24th percentile, to above the cutoff point, according to a Freedom of Information Act response obtained by Parents United for Responsible Education. Not all of these students were subject to the promotion policy. And 6th and 8th graders are allowed two years of tests to determine promotion, while 3rd graders are allowed only this one. However, it is safe to say that thousands of students were erroneously sent to summer school based on a combination of faulty test scores and a CPS promotion policy that uses those test scores to override all other considerations.

A petition to change the CPS promotion policy has been started at:

http://bubbleover.net/cps-promotion-petition/

*Name has been changed to preserve anonymity.

This article previously published on Substance News.

ISBE, CPS Don’t Agree on Who’s Failing

At the end of each school year, Chicago Public Schools tells tens of thousands of students they have failed the Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT) and must attend summer school. Yet, after attending summer school, some of those same students then receive scores from the same test stating they meet state expectations.

According to the Chicago Public Schools Elementary School Promotion Policy any student in 3rd, 6th or 8th grade who scores below the 24th percentile on one or two of the SAT-10 portions of the state test automatically attends summer school. CPS sent 26,992 students in those “benchmark grades” to summer school in 2008. However, 1,412 of those same students who scored below the CPS cutoff point in math were also found by the state to meet the standard in math. And 13,071 students who scored below the CPS cutoff point in math were also found by the state to fall in the state’s below standards category rather the lowest category termed academic warning. The state found only 3,430 students to be at the academic warning level in math, and even less in reading. The difference in results were similar in 2006 and 2007, according to information received from CPS by Parents United for Responsible Education in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.

The discrepancy occurs because CPS bases its promotion policy on only two small subsets of the overall test (30 or 40 questions each) that are graded quickly to determine who must attend summer school. These scores don’t necessarily match with the scores received after the state scores the entire test. When asked about the correlation between CPS cutoff score and the state standard levels, CPS responded that the correlation “is an ISBE matter.” ISBE, on the other hand, stated in a related FOIA request that “Using ISAT scores as the basis for student promotion and retention is not an ISBE policy or practice.” In fact, it is Chicago Public Schools, not the Illinois State Board of Education, which has established the 24th percentile mark as the determinant for promotion. Since that mark does not relate to the state standard levels, it seems reasonable to wonder, on what basis was it chosen?

Who is CPS failing?

Since 1996, CPS has flunked hundreds of thousands of students, with a total actual cost of about $1.2 billion, and with unimaginable fallout costs to society. Our entire society loses out when we tell students they are failures. Why does CPS continue to spend $100 million a year on a policy that annually hurts 10,000 children academically and emotionally? There are real interventions that could help. See reports and alternatives at PURE. And if that’s not enough, here’s a report from 1998 entitled the Predictable Failure of Chicago’s Student Retention Program.

CPS must stop flunking students.

Following is my analysis of CPS’ flunking policy’s disparate impact on African-Americans.

Enrollment, Summer School, and Retention by Race in 2008 for 3rd, 6th, and 8th Graders

failinpie1

failinpie2

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The pie charts show that African-Americans constitute 48% of the CPS student population in 3rd, 6th and 8th grades, but 68% of those required to attend summer school, and 74% of those retained.
failinbar1
The bar graph above shows what percentage of each race subgroup was required to attend summer school. For example, 40% of all CPS 3rd, 6th and 8th grade African-American students were required to attend summer school.
failinbar2
The bar graph above shows what percentage of each race subgroup was retained. For example, 16% of all CPS 3rd, 6th and 8th grade African-American students had to repeat the grade.

Whose schools are closing?

Arne Duncan’s nationwide 5000 “failing” schools he plans to close and reopen will be almost entirely those that serve predominantly poor children of color, if Mr. Duncan’s policy in Chicago Public Schools (CPS) holds as an indicator of what is to come. Analysis of Mr. Duncan’s policy to identify “failing” schools in Chicago consistently identified schools that serve more children of color and more children from families with low-income than CPS’ average. The “failing” schools are put on “probation” if the school does not earn a certain amount of points from test score gains. piechart-incomeOf the schools placed on probation with no additional review, 98% had more students of color than the CPS average, and 99% had at least 3 out of 4 students designated as low-income. In contrast, of the schools designated the highest rank by the policy, only 30% had more students of color than the CPS average, and only 45% had a low-income rate of more than 3 of 4 students. Any school placed on probation for over a year is subject to extreme actions including closing, firing all staff, and reopening (turnaround).piechart-race

Here are some of the questions we should be asking as Mr. Duncan takes his turnaround policy nationwide. What studies have been done and what efforts have been made by Mr. Duncan or the Chicago Public Schools to avoid the disproportionate effect of the school probation policy on schools that serve minority communities? Does this turnaround policy unfairly punish schools and staff who serve low-income students of color? Is a policy that consistently tells predominantly minority students and their teachers they are failures the best way to encourage a passion for education? What lesson will students of color take from this approach? What efforts have been made to find the positive assets in each community and build on those? What degree of participation and democracy have been used to determine if a school is successful? How could school reform be done with a community, instead of to them? Do test scores determine whether an educational environment is relevant and empowering to a student’s  life, present and future?

For the full-length version of this article, please visit Substance News.

schoolstatusincome

schoolstatuswhite

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Flunk, retain, drop out

Soon scores from a small portion of the Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT) will come back.

  • The booklet sent out with ISAT says “No person or organization shall make a decision about a student or educator on the basis of a single test.” (1)
  • Despite this, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) trusts this test to override our own teachers in deciding the future of our children.
  • For third, sixth and eighth graders, our promotion policy automatically flunks at least one in four children based on a thirty or forty question test. (2)
  • At the end of summer school, CPS is five times more likely to retain a child for the next year if they are African-American than if they are white. (3)
  • By retaining a student, CPS increases that child’s chance of dropping out by 29%. (4)
  • Chicago Public Schools spends $100 million dollars every year on this policy. (5)
  • Extensive research shows that it DOES NOT WORK. Repeating a grade does not help children succeed. (4)

Why do we continue to threaten eight-year-olds and tell third-graders they are failures? Why do we make students cry, throw-up, and finally quit?

Chicago Public Schools should use the $100 million it spends every year on holding back kids to instead provide what students really need: caring professionals with the time and resources to find out what works for each of them. Our children need advocates, not inflexible policies spit out of a machine.

CPS should stop using standardized test scores to override all other considerations in making student grade promotion decisions. I encourage anyone who agrees to sign the petition. And I encourage other parents to contact Parents United for Responsible Education if your child is forced to go to summer school.

  1. 2009 ISBE ISAT Professional Testing Practices for Educators booklet

  2. CPS policy sends any student below the 24th percentile to summer school.

  3. http://pureparents.org/data/files/retentionreport09.pdf

  4. http://www.fairtest.org/chicago-research-criticizes-retention-test-driven-improvement

  5. $10,000 per student per year times approximately 10,000 students retained

did you wash your hands well?

handswell480ht

> so today, when i took my son to the eye doctor, i saw a sign on the sink
> that said “did you wash your hands well?”
> i stole it. i’ll scan it and post it someday – to projecttreehouse if
> that’s ok.

love it.

> anyway, it seemed like our idea broken down to a simple specific action.
> reflection on a simple daily life practice. not just did you do it, but
> how did you do it. could see some signs placed in relevant spots that
> asked good questions about the activities occurring there in a specific
> manner.

yeah, let’s keep going.  and focus on the daily life practices that we could approach for reflections and meanings.

A+. You fail.

Bubble tests determine our children's educational fate.
Workers feed bubble sheets to the machines that determine our children's educational fate.

That’s right. Even if a third-grade Chicago Public Schools student gets an “A” in every subject from her classroom teacher, she is sent to summer school if she scores below the 24th percentile on just one part of a state standardized test.

Chicago Public Schools uses standardized test scores to override all other considerations in making student grade promotion decisions.

Tell Chicago Public Schools to end this policy! Sign the petition here:
http://bubbleover.net/cps-promotion-petition/

See Chicago Public Schools’ current promotion policy.

Image is from the ISAT tech report.

Update on the testing of a third-grader

After discussions with numerous people, including lawyers, we decided we were not in the right position to opt our son out of the state test this year. Our son took the ISAT this spring. According to Chicago Public Schools Promotion Policy, if he scores below the 24th percentile in the small nationally normed subset of math or reading, he MUST attend summer school, despite the fact that he has had excellent grades (A’s and B’s) in these subjects all year.

We have filed a FOIA request for a copy of our son’s test, answers and scoring.

We have also requested the promotion and retention data and report that Chicago Public Schools is supposed to make available to us, according to their own promotion policy. Our request was first made in the fall of 2008. We have yet to receive it.

We are aware the Parents United for Responsible Education (PURE) has filed a FOIA request for the CPS retention and promotion data. PURE has also requested information regarding how many students last year were affected by the rescore, and whether the state standard scores and categories align to the subset of nationally normed standard scores and categories that CPS uses for promotion. In addition, PURE has requested from ISBE the psychometric data with regard to individual students (i.e. is the test valid and reliable at a per-student level, or only when aggregated?).

and here we are

our interest is in the practice of everyday life.

our projects confront people (including ourselves) in a casual way and create reflections on meaning and life. we take things in daily life that people already do/use and intervene.

where do people situate meaning? where don’t they? can we break into that avoidance, or tease out that meaning? how to cause reflection that will highlight the meaning in the lives we already live?

 

project treehouse was a collaboration of kathleen tieri and wade tillett

about project treehouse

project treehouse

our interest is in the practice of everyday life.

our projects confront people (including ourselves) in a casual way and create reflections on meaning and life. we take things in daily life that people already do/use and intervene.

where do people situate meaning? where don’t they? can we break into that avoidance, or tease out that meaning? how to cause reflection that will highlight the meaning in the lives we already live?