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Testing Overload in America's Schools
States and school districts are far from the goal of better, fairer, and fewer tests. Some states have decided to stop administering the new Common Core tests, while others have chosen to walk away from using the standards altogether.
By Melissa Lazarín | Via Center for American Progress
(Photo by Ryan McGilchrist, Creative Commons License)
In August, when the Lee County School Board in Southwest Florida voted 3-2 to opt out of the state's mandated tests tied to the Common Core State Standards due to concerns about the over-testing of students, a packed room of opt-out supporters and parents erupted in cheers.
As unpopular as Florida's mandated tests are in many quarters, the state's tests are not the sole culprit. A local newspaper's analysis of the tests given by the Lee County schools found that 52 percent of the assessments that students take are district mandated, while less than half are state required. In other words, over-testing in Lee County might not be only a state and federal problem but a local problem as well.
The Lee County vote, which was later rescinded due to concerns that the decision could place the district in violation of state law and risk losing funding, highlights how the issues of over-testing and the way in which tests results will be used have become more and more controversial in recent months.
New, more rigorous tests that are aligned with the Common Core State Standards—which serve as guideposts for what students in grades K-12 should know in reading and math—will be administered broadly this school year. The prospect of this expanded rollout has spawned growing concern among teachers over how the results will be used to evaluate teacher and school performance. At the same time, the new tests have generated hope among advocates that the low-quality, fill-in-the-bubble tests that states currently use, and the added assessments that districts require to compensate for them, will finally become a thing of the past.
This spring saw a wave of so-called opt-out efforts from Colorado to Illinois where parents sought to keep their children from taking standardized assessments. In New York, more than 550 principals signed a letter protesting the state's tests. Some states have decided to stop administering the new Common Core tests, while others have chosen to walk away from using the Common Core standards altogether.
But the bigger question still looms: Are schools over-testing students?
A recent Purple Strategies poll commissioned by the Center for American Progress found that 49 percent of parents think there is too much standardized testing in schools. But in an apparent contradiction, three out of four parents think that it is important to regularly assess whether their children are on track to meet state academic goals, according to a poll conducted by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Support for regular assessment is even higher among Latino and black parents.
It appears that schools and families are at a crossroads when it comes to testing.
High-quality assessments generate rich data and can provide valuable information about student progress to teachers and parents, support accountability, promote high expectations, and encourage equity for students of color and low-income students. But it is important to acknowledge that for some children, testing exacts an emotional toll in the form of anxiety and stress. Therefore, the number of tests and/or the amount of time devoted to tests should be limited to the minimum amount needed to acquire critical information to improve student learning.
Moreover, it must be remembered that tests simply collect information and that they are only as valuable as the quality of the information collected and the way that information is utilized. Tests should not take center stage in the classroom, particularly at the expense of meaningful learning time. Schools should design assessment schedules, as well as overall schooling, in ways that maximize the learning experience and foster the positive development of students.
In undertaking this study, we had two goals: to obtain a better understanding of how much time students spend taking tests and to identify the degree to which the tests are mandated by districts or states. To that end, we focused on 14 districts—urban and suburban—in seven states during the 2013-14 school year. We examined district and state assessment calendars and supplemented that information with correspondence with school district and state central-office staff, along with other publicly available information. We used this information to identify the number and frequency of district and state-required standardized assessments for students by grade spans K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12 and to determine the time it took for students to take the assessments. We sought to capture the average standardized testing experience of most K-12 students and therefore only included tests that either the state or district required of all students. This analysis did not include teacher-developed tests or test-preparation activities; as a consequence, it understates the amount of time and energy devoted to testing in these districts. Because our analysis included only a relatively small sample of districts, it may not reflect the testing experience of students or districts in other communities.
In addition, we interviewed several district and state education officials to better understand why they require certain assessments and the efforts underway to reduce the amount of testing in schools. A number of these efforts are highlighted in this report.
The report finds the following:
Despite the perception that federally mandated state testing is the root of the issue, districts require more tests than states. Students across all grade spans take more district tests than state assessments. Students in K-2 are tested three times as much on district exams as state exams, and high school students are tested twice as much on district exams.
Students are tested as frequently as twice per month and an average of once per month. Our analysis found that students take as many as 20 standardized assessments per year and an average of 10 tests in grades 3-8. The regularity with which testing occurs, especially in these grades, may be causing students, families, and educators to feel burdened by testing.
Actual test administration takes up a small fraction of learning time. Although testing occurs frequently, students across all grade spans—even in grades 3-8, where state standardized tests are mandated by federal law—do not spend a great deal of school time actually taking tests. Students spend, on average, 1.6 percent of instructional time or less taking tests.
There is a culture of testing and test preparation in schools that does not put students first. While the actual time spent taking tests might be low, a culture has arisen in some states and districts that places a premium on testing over learning. It is difficult to systematically document the prevalence of these activities. However, our research indicates that some districts and states may be administering tests that are duplicative or unnecessary; they may also be requiring or encouraging significant amounts of test preparation, such as taking practice tests.
District-level testing occurs more frequently and takes up more learning time in urban districts than in suburban districts. In grades K-2, urban students spend about 52 percent more time on district tests than state tests. In grades 3-5 and 6-8, students in urban districts spend approximately 80 percent and 73 percent more time, respectively, taking district-mandated standardized tests than their suburban peers. But the difference is most profound among high school students. Urban high school students spend 266 percent more time taking district-level exams than their suburban counterparts.
Districts are not transparent about testing practices or purposes. While parents may know when their children are being tested, the purposes of the tests students are taking, whether the state or district is requiring the test, and how much time tests take may not always be clear from the information that districts provide. Chicago Public Schools stood out among all the districts for its transparency regarding district assessments. Most districts examined post some information regarding their district-level assessments on their websites, but the information is often limited in its usefulness for parents and other stakeholders.
Based on our findings and analysis, we make the following recommendations:
States should implement the new Common Core-aligned assessments. Because they are of higher quality, include more open-ended questions, and are more useful for instruction, the new Common Core-aligned state assessments are less likely to lead to teaching to the test. These assessments also offer the promise of reducing the need for districts to layer on additional tests to compensate for low-quality state tests. States should move forward with the implementation of Common Core-aligned assessments.
States should issue guidance and provide technical assistance to districts to support fairer and more efficient testing practices that put students first. States should provide stronger guidance to districts about when and how to use standardized assessments so that they are not requiring duplicative or unnecessary assessments. States should help districts identify ways to streamline their testing schedules so districts do not impose an unfair testing burden on students. States may want to look to New York as an example, where state education officials provided targeted grants and issued individualized guidance and recommendations to each district on how they may reduce the number of tests they employ.
Districts should critically examine their approaches to standardized testing and listen to teachers in the process. Many district-driven assessments are used to gauge student progress and help teachers improve instruction. Districts should therefore consult with teachers about the assessments that they find useful to their instructional practice when critically evaluating their portfolio of assessments and determining which tests to keep or eliminate.
District and school leaders should refrain from test preparation and other practices and activities that may increase test anxiety. As part of this report, we were not able to objectively measure how much time schools are spending on test-preparation practices. But media reports and common anecdotes of activities—such as administering practice versions of tests, holding school pep rallies that elevate the importance of tests, and inviting all students to wear the same color shirt during test week—have surfaced in recent years. These types of activities can unnecessarily escalate the significance of tests and spur test-related performance anxiety among students. Test preparation should consist of nothing more than high-quality instruction aligned to rigorous academic standards.
Districts should improve the transparency of district-level assessments. Parents and the community should be informed of all district and state tests, including when they are scheduled to occur, their purpose, their administration time, and whether they are required by the state or district. At a minimum, this information should be posted on school districts' websites.
Used properly, high-quality assessments can be a valuable tool for teachers to determine where students are struggling, for parents to understand their children's progress and knowledge gaps, and for policymakers and advocates who need assurance that all students are receiving a high-quality education. We simply need to get smarter about, where and how we use them.
Melissa Lazarín is Senior Policy Advisor and the former Managing Director of Education Policy at the Center for American Progress.
This article first appeared on the website of Center for American Progress. Click here to go to the original.
Colorado Common Core State Standards Lee County Lee County School Board Southwest Florida	2014-10-21
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allmediascotland...Your key to the media > Media Releases > Moray Task Force Quizzes Secretary of State for Scotland over RAF Base Closures and Calls for PM to Face Communities
Moray Task Force Quizzes Secretary of State for Scotland over RAF Base Closures and Calls for PM to Face Communities
By pressteam in · October 21, 2010 · No comments
Issued on behalf of Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) and the Moray Council.
The Secretary of State for Scotland Michael Moore met with members of the new Moray Task Force in Elgin today to hear of the concerns for the area's future.
The meeting was called following the Prime Minister's announcement on Tuesday that the Nimrod programme was being cancelled, effectively closing RAF Kinloss where the aircraft is based, and that the Tornado fleet was to be reduced. Tornados are based 15 miles from Kinloss at RAF Lossiemouth.
Any proposed reduction in the size of the Tornado fleet could see the Lossiemouth base closed, taking with it 3,370 jobs and the £90m annual contribution to the local economy.
The Task Force was established the day after the announcement, and comprises representatives from local government, Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), local business leaders and the voluntary sector.
Speaking after the meeting, Moray Council Convener, Cllr George McIntyre, said that the Secretary of State was in listening mode.
"I'm satisfied that he heard us loud and clear, and recognised the impact of such a closure on a relatively small area like Moray," he said.
"We informed him that we will be campaigning hard to secure the future of Lossiemouth as an RAF base for Tornados, and will present a sound argument against transferring the remaining squadrons to RAF Marham in Norfolk, which is where we understand they could be destined.
"For his part he said that no decision has been made as to the future location of the Tornado fleet, but recent press reports say otherwise.
"We are determined to fight to keep RAF Lossiemouth, and I have issued an invitation to the Prime Minister, David Cameron, to come to Moray and see for himself what the impact of his decisions would be on this rural area."
Calum MacPherson, Highlands and Islands Enterprise Area Manager for Moray, said the Task Force members had welcomed the opportunity to put their concerns to the Scottish Secretary.
"All sections of the community across Moray are united in their shock at the decision to pull the RAF out of Kinloss and the present threat to thousands more jobs supported by Lossiemouth.
"Moray's association with the RAF goes back 70 years and there will hardly be a family or business around these bases which won't be affected by these decisions and deeply concerned for their future.
"The business community, enterprise and council leaders and the voluntary sector are speaking with one voice and our message is clear.
"We urgently need greater clarity on the speed of the planned rundown at Kinloss, and access to personnel who may wish to stay in the area and put their skills to use locally.
"And we mean to take our campaign to save Lossiemouth to the highest level, to protect this vital economic lifeline which is a core part of the Moray community."
In his statement to the House of Commons on the 19th, the Prime Minister said: 'We owe it to communities up and down the country who have supported our armed forces for many years to engage with them before final decisions are taken.'
On behalf of the Moray Task Force, Cllr McIntyre has today issued an invitation to the Prime Minister to do just that, and to see for himself how much the RAF is part of the Moray community. (copy of letter below)
A study published earlier this year by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) showed that RAF Kinloss currently supports 2,341 jobs on the base and in the wider community, and contributes £68m to the local economy every year.
The base at Lossiemouth supports a further 3,370 jobs, and contributes £90.3m annually.
Contacts: Peter Jones on 01343 563601/07974 191318 or Raymond Shewan on 01343 563046/07967 748826. E-mail: peter.jones@moray.gov.uk or raymond.shewan@moray.gov.uk
Text of Cllr McIntyre's letter below:
Dear Prime Minister
I, and members of our Moray Action Group, local MP and MSP have met today with your Secretary of State for Scotland, Michael Moore.
After a full meeting it was clear there are still many questions left to answer over the future of RAF Lossiemouth.
Given your commitment in the House to listen to the views of the local communities affected before any final decision is made on Tornado or any other defence cuts, we feel it is imperative that you visit Moray at the earliest opportunity to do just that.
We therefore cordially invite you to meet with us and community representatives to hear their views. I and the members of the Moray Action Group are prepared to make any appointment, given the urgency of this matter and the importance to our community.
Faithfully,
Cllr George McIntyre, JP, Convener of Moray Council.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Family, friends may impact breast cancer surgery decision, U-M study finds
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — About three-quarters of women newly diagnosed with breast cancer have a friend or family member with them at their first visit with a surgeon. And that person plays a significant role in the patient's decision of what type of surgery to have, according to a new study from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.
The study looked at factors affecting a woman's choice between a mastectomy to remove the entire breast or breast-conserving surgery, which involves removing only the tumor and is followed by radiation treatments. It found that when the patient, rather than the doctor, drives the surgery decision, the patient is more likely to choose a mastectomy. This proved to be the case among all racial and ethnic groups.
The paper appears online Aug. 31 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
The study also found that women who had a friend or family member accompany them to the surgical consultation were more likely to receive a mastectomy, compared to women who attended the appointment alone. Latinas who speak little English were most influenced by family in their decision-making: 75 percent, compared to 34 percent of white women.
"Family and friends have a potentially important role in treatment discussions. More than 70 percent of women brought someone with them to the appointment, providing a chance for surgeons to convey information to both the patient and her support person. Clearly, others help with and contribute to decision making, and may do so differently for different racial or ethnic groups," says lead study author Sarah Hawley, Ph.D., M.P.H., research associate professor of internal medicine at the U-M Medical School.
Researchers also found that factors such as concern about cancer recurrence, body image and the effects of radiation impacted a woman's surgery decision. Women who said that concerns about recurrence or radiation were very important in their surgical treatment decision-making were more likely to choose mastectomy, while women very concerned about body image were more likely to have breast conserving surgery.
"We want to ensure a woman's decision is high quality, which means it's based on accurate knowledge about treatment risks and benefits and is consistent with the underlying values of the patient," Hawley says.
The researchers plan to develop a decision tool to help women and their families understand the surgical decision, and future studies will look at the issues important to patients and their spouses around decision making.
Methodology: Researchers analyzed survey responses from 1,651 women diagnosed with early stage breast cancer in the Detroit and Los Angeles metropolitan areas. Patients were selected from each city's Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results database, which collects information about cancer incidence, treatment and mortality.
Patients were asked about their surgical treatment decision, including how involved they were in the decision making, whether a family member or friend accompanied them to the appointment and their attitudes toward surgery. Higher numbers of African Americans and Latinas were included.
Breast cancer statistics: 194,280 Americans will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year and 40,610 will die from the disease, according to the American Cancer Society
Additional authors: Jennifer Griggs, Reshma Jagsi, Barbara Salem, and Steven Katz, all from U-M Medical School; Nancy Janz, U-M School of Public Health; Ann Hamilton, University of Southern California; John Graff, Wayne State University; Monica Morrow, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Funding: National Cancer Institute
Reference: Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Vol. 101, No. 19, Oct. 7, 2009; published online ahead of print Aug. 31, 2009
U-M Cancer AnswerLine, 800-865-1125
U-M Comprehensive Cancer Center, www.mcancer.org
Cancer Surveillance & Outcomes Research Team, www.med.umich.edu/cansort
'Watchful waiting' is a viable option for prostate cancer patients with low-risk tumors
Cigarettes, not Swedish snuff linked to increased risk of MS


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Hearing this week shows that the money has been found, sort of.
Congress got more insight into the MF Global debacle this week as James Giddens and Louis Freeh, trustees involved two areas of the bankruptcy testified before Congress. First off, Giddens told the Senate Banking Committee that his team had finished its analysis of how the money went missing, noting they can trace where the cash and securities went.
NO BONUSES: The chance that executives would get 'performance bonuses' drew fire from Congress.
However, knowing where the money is and getting it back for victims is not so clear. About $700 million is in the UK subsidiary of the failed firm, and Giddens and his team are working with the courts there to get the money brought back. Giddens says his team is engaged in ongoing talks on the issue of getting funds back, and a substantial portion is in the hands of JP Morgan.
Meanwhile another $685 million in funds will now be returned to victims as a New York bankruptcy judge is releasing those funds. That money would go to accounts that have been frozen since the Oct. 31, 2011 bankruptcy was filed.
One controversial issue was the payment of executive bonuses to the MF Global management team. Louis Freeh, bankruptcy trustee, has confirmed that those executive would not receive those "performance related" funds. Jon Tester, D-Mont., had called the idea of distributing the bonuses as "outrageous."
The Senate Ag Committee issued a statement Wednesday, applauding Freeh "for heading their call to drop any possible plan to pay bonuses to MF Global Executives." The joint statement from Chairman Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., and Ranking Minority Member Pat Roberts, R-Kan., who concurred that the idea would be a challenge.
As for avoiding this problem in the future? Giddens told the Senate committee that in hindsight more frequent reporting and making senior executives more "personally liable for shortfalls in customer funds" would incentivize better fund management, according to a statement from Tester's office.


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Good evening all, sorry, it feels like an age since I last posted anything! I've been mooching through some of my recent pictures and I've got so much to update you all with I'm going to break what would be one humongous post post into 3 or 4 posts over the next week or so.
Basically so I don't bore you all to death.
Or wear my fingers out typing forever.
Anyway, first up shall be a (very) brief review of Warhammer Fest 2016 which I atttended with my good friend Ian last month.
Neither of use were massively enthused to attend this year following a somewhat lack lustre effort on GW's behalf the year prior, but seeing as we were both free on the date and my friend was passing the venue on his way back from a family visit we decided to go along and see what had changed.
We didn't regret the decision at all.
Due to some poor information from one of the door staff we missed where exactly we were meant to sign up for the seminars so missed out on the forge world event BUT having opted to view the black library's effort think we actually came away better off for it....great seeing and hearing some of the writers who's works I've been buried in over the last few years and hearing what they are planning next!
Anyway - on a whim I decided to take along 2 minis of mine to try my luck in the golden demon painting competition. I decided to enter Garro, hand of the sigilite (as I though he was probably one of my best) but he was placed in the cabinet alongside a simply much much better Garro haha so that was a bit of a pointless venture and (almost as an after thought) I decided to try my Onagar Dune Walker out as it attracted some nice attention on Facebook.
" Sorry buddy, I can't let you have the other model just yet - you've made the finals, congratulations"
Wow, TOTALY stunned that I managed to come away with a Golden Demon finalists pin.....rather a happy boy with that result! Especially to even be considered along side some of the other finalists was an honour, as ever the standard was incredibly high.
Anyway, Warhammer Fest was a triumphant return to form and I'll be 100% in attendance next year (all things wiling ofc) and on that note I'll bid you good night for now - next time I'll get some pics down of my latest little board game purchase 'Kingdom Death' that some of us from the Code managed to sit down and play a few rounds of.
Thanks for reading :) until next time.


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Middle Eastern Culture
An Artist's Eye View of Morocco
Guest Author - Julie L Baumler
Art Maroc is a virtual art gallery featuring over a thousand works by almost a hundred different modern Moroccan artists. They report that they are the oldest and richest such site. While certainly a realistic claim, the beauty and quality of this site speak for itself, making comparative examples unnecessary.
The site's introductory page explains how the artists are chosen and explains the site layout. This page does refer to several features that were not active at the time of writing, such as a topical guide and a section on recent innovations. In an earlier incarnation, this page also discussed the need for a collection of contemporary Moroccan Art to encourage and strengthen the formation of the budding Moroccan style of painting as Morocco and Moroccan artists free themselves from colonial influences and create their own contemporary style.
The text in Art Maroc is in French. Although my French skills extend only to rudimentary reading, I did not have any problems with understanding the site as is and the Google Language Tools provided a very acceptable translation. Unfortunately, the way the biography pop-up windows are implemented means that even if you are viewing the site through Google's translation, they still come up in French. (It's simple to cut and paste the biography into Google or another translation tool though.) Language isn't an important part of this site anyway, it is after all, an art site and the main attraction is page after page of absolutely gorgeous art!
The essence of the site is the art. The tab labeled "peintres répertoriés" (painters index) takes you to an alphabetical listing of artists with links to galleries of their works and, where available, biographies. The biographies appear in a large pop-up window. Usually, I don't like pop-up windows but this site implements them in a particularly useful manner. You can read the biography in one window while looking at the artist's works in the other. The images in this site are larger and clearer than I usually see in art sites (full size images are about 8 inches on the longest side and thumbnails are over an inch.) I was particularly impressed with the ability to view the next image in the gallery by clicking on the current image and the slide show with an adjustable delay.
The images themselves are amazing. I particularly like the use of bright colors that seems to be common among many of the artists. Although it is not the stated intention of the site, as I browse through I am getting a much better sense of Morocco and its citizens. All in all, this is a beautiful site that is the source of hours of continual enjoyment. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes art or is interested in Morocco.
Art Maroc (English Translation via Google)
Invitation to French - This is the fabulous book I used to learn to read French. You simply read a short passage every day with the occasional written exercise for about a month. It is out of print but good quality used copies are readily available from alibris.com.
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Orchids & Roses were the starting pallet for this suite! We popped this custom pattern on all of their day of items. The blind de-bossing might be my favorite element to add to paper... its subtle & adds texture, but still keeps the main design clean. All of the silver calligraphy was foiled AND embossed... so the depression versus the raised typography made for a beautiful textural experience when you opened the silver foil lined envelope! Laser cutting, black & white, and sharp black letterpressing were all tied in to this suite. This client was a dream to work with - they let us just run with our ideas to the fullest!