I spent a lot of time last week on the “other side” of cameras, microphones and reporters’ questions as media across the county reported on our investigation into school test scores.
It seems we’ve struck a nerve with our national study of the integrity of test scores, and news outlets from California to Michigan to Florida reported the story — and started asking their own questions.
Of course, accountability from leaders in each school district and state ought to be expected.
As you know, Atlanta struggled when our community heard the first hints of cheating in Atlanta Public Schools; we’re watching other communities struggle with questions about their test scores.
What we found was troubling to many:
Suspicious test scores in nearly 200 school districts resemble those that entangled Atlanta in the biggest cheating scandal in American history.
The newspaper analyzed test results for 69,000 public schools and found high concentrations of suspect math or reading scores in school systems from coast to coast.
It’s important to note that our reporting doesn’t prove cheating or accuse any school, teacher or administrator of cheating.
Instead, we’ve done a statistical look, with the help of four independent academic experts (details are at ajc.com/news/school-test-scores.)
The analysis shows results that in many cases defy even the most generous standards of predictability. Student scores just don’t change this much or this fast because of good teaching, the experts say.
The national discussion is off to a good start.
“These findings are concerning,” U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said in an emailed statement after he was briefed on our analysis. “States, districts, schools and testing companies should have sensible safeguards in place to ensure tests accurately reflect student learning.”
We hope that local school districts and states will build from our study and look deeper into the anomalies in students’ scores.
Test scores have never been more important as students, schools, teachers and principals are judged using them.
News that those test scores may not be reliable disrupts a common narrative that has developed in American education.
That narrative goes something like this:
A troubled school system brings in a reform-minded, data-driven new leader. That leader builds a culture focused on results with broad support from parents and the business community.
Test scores improve, indicating learning and higher achievement by students. The school system is recognized as improving, often under difficult circumstances in an urban or poor environment. The accolades come.
It’s a great story to tell, talk about and read in the newspaper.
But now it looks like it may not be true in many places.
Perhaps that’s why the impulse to dismiss the concerns or question the methodology is so strong, when leaders ought to bravely dig into their scores.
Said one high school principal in Tulsa, Oklahoma: “For them to say we’re cheating, it’s pretty difficult when they haven’t been in the classroom and seen all the measures that we have in place to make sure it doesn’t happen.” (“Them” is apparently us at this newspaper, and, again, we’ve accused no one of cheating.)
In Atlanta, we learned to be wary of the leader loudly defending scores, or seeking to discredit our reporting.
We came to respect those who sought the truth, especially when the path to it was difficult.
In Atlanta we learned not to be distracted by debates about how much is proved or isn’t. We learned the questions won’t be answered by confusing the issue.
We’ve seen that kind of inspiring reaction too — all week school districts have been contacting us, wanting to find out more about our researchand what they could learn about their schools. Many of them seem genuinely concerned about getting to the truth.
We need to remember why that truth matters so much.
As one reader wrote on our Get Schooled blog, “The AJC obviously had statistical mathematical models developed to handle the massive amount of data, but really the concept is fairly simple.
“Outliers in any school need to be looked at. Testing needs to be valid and secure. Expected advancements in scores need to be realistic....That’s why this study is so important for children.”
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