SACRAMENTO DESK - Tuesday's limited release of the statewide STAR (Stanford 9) test scores was historic--the first time in the history of California that we have assessed student skills and provided results in both individual and comparable fashion. At this point we are still pursuing legal options to have all the scores--including those for limited-English-speaking (LEP)students--officially reported.
This test, more than anything, focuses attention on the issue of
accountability. That is, what are schools doing--or not doing--to ensure
that kids are mastering basic academic skills?
Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, these scores are very
disappointing. Of the 43 grade [and subject] levels reported, only 12
chart scores above the national average [50th percentile]. That means
more than two-thirds of grade-level scores are below the national
average.
This is the kind of information that will bring
accountability--accountability that has been fought against by educrats
afraid of being held responsible for failing our kids. It's the kind of
accountability feared by special interests more concerned with their
bottom line than a child's future. And it's accountability that is
anathema to reform obstructionists who paper over the fact that many
schools are doing a poor job.
These test scores bypass all the politicking and excuse-making. They
do not lie. They lay out for all to see exactly where our schools are now
in terms of helping students learn, and they set the tone for the kind of
progress every parent ought to expect to see when scores are released for
the second STAR test next June.
These scores clearly show that many kids are not prepared in even the
most basic of grade-level skills. As such, they further emphasize the
tragedy of social promotion--the practice of moving students up grade
levels without their having mastered the skills to compete and succeed at
that next level.
The lack of a test like this has, in the past, left us unable to more
quickly recognize the student declines in reading and math. STAR results
will prevent that from happening again, because we will know year to year
where we are. Further, it is a vital tool to begin gauging how well our
class-size reduction, phonics instruction, teacher training and longer
school year reforms are working.
Overall, there is no way we can view these scores as anything but
dreadfully disappointing--the byproducts of failed educational fads like
whole language, new math and exploratory learning methods that value fun
and self-discovery over the learning of basic skills.
This nonsense has got to end, and it is. We are on our way to
reshaping a system focused on results and the basics, not on process and
politically correct pampering of kids. We are setting higher academic
standards, which means the test, which will be aligned to these
standards, will be even more difficult next year.
We are working to lengthen the school year, equip all kids with the
textbooks, library stocks and educational technology resources they need
to study and learn. We are improving the way we train and support our
teachers. And we have already reintroduced phonics and spelling back into
our curriculum.
These targeted investments are the things that can and will make a
difference. Thankfully, we finally have a diagnostic tool to measure the
improved student performance.
