Too Much Pressure

The stakes are high when it comes to financial and government support of schools. The state of Virginia has lately become very familiar with these stakes.


Bid to Waive Middle School Scores Rejected
Superintendents Fear That Surprisingly Low Pass Rates Will Hinder Accreditation
By Michael Alison Chandler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, October 7, 2006; Page B10

The Virginia Board of Education this week denied requests from local officials to shield middle schools from fallout from unexpected low scores on last spring's state math tests. The board's decision, disclosed yesterday, rebuffed appeals from several superintendents, including Edgar B. Hatrick III of Loudoun County.

In a letter to the superintendents, board President Mark E. Emblidge wrote that a new state law barred any move to withhold past test results from the calculations used to rate schools. Therefore, he wrote, schools must adapt. "I am confident that the lessons learned by all of us from the 2005-2006 test will result in higher student achievement this year," he wrote.

Pressure is high for educators to raise standardized test scores. In Virginia, 51 percent of sixth-graders and 44 percent of seventh-graders passed last spring's math tests. Pass rates help determine whether schools receive state accreditation, a distinction that signifies they have met minimum standards.

Seventy-one percent of middle schools statewide gained full accreditation this year, down from 83 percent last year. Nearly three-quarters of middle schools failed solely because of math scores, the state Department of Education reported. Schools that fail to meet benchmarks for three consecutive years are denied accreditation and must work with the state to raise scores."

For the full article, click here; http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/06/AR2006100601435.html?nav=rss_education

So it seems that once a school is labeled "unfit" by national standards, they not only score low on the tests, but they are dropped deeper into a hole which they will have to struggle by not being accredited. This can only be seen as an ineffective and unreasonable way to improve our public education.

The fact that the Board of Education hopes that teachers and administrators will see this as motivation to improve for next year is absurd. If the scores are lower than last year, wouldn't it make sense for them to have been motivated this year? It is a downward spiral with good intentions, but is poorly executed and has proven yet to be successful.

These national tests, along with all NCLB policies, seem to be nothing but hurting the public school systems. Cutting funds, changing curriculums at a fast pace, and introducing new and more advanced concepts to be tested by students comes at a cost the U.S. is not ready to pay.

".."We need time to figure out what happened," Hatrick said yesterday. "The results were so inconsistent with everything else students were doing."

Evaluation and development of determing a students' ability and level in the educational system needs to be completely re-thought and revised. Only then will students be given a fair chance to be taught in a truly enriching learning environment.