Indiana's state test, the ISTEP, is misused in the same way many states misuse standardized tests. It's used to grade schools on an A to F scale and it's used to determine which teachers get bonuses, which are deemed unsatisfactory, and which are to be fired. (I suppose that it's also possible that in some places it's used to see how well students have learned the state standards, but I doubt the state really cares about that.) In addition, another test, the IREAD-3, is misused to retain third grade students who are struggling with reading.
Currently the state is struggling over the ISTEP. A committee looked into problems with the test and made recommendations. Last year's tests were so screwed up that the legislature agreed to not hold schools and teachers accountable for the results. For the results to be so bad that even Indiana's "reformist" legislature "pauses accountability," you know it must be bad.
The committee was charged with coming up with something that didn't have as many problems as the ISTEP. That task was not accomplished.
‘ISTEP’ Name May Change, But Test Itself May Not For 2 More Years
“We need about two-and-a-half to three years to get a new test that is sound, based on our standards, thought out and vetted clearly through the education system,” says Sen. Dennis Kruse, chair of the Senate committee on education. “That’ll [be] a better test at the end of that time.”The test is a failure, yet it has high stakes consequences for schools, teachers, and students. So, according to the chairs of both the Senate (Kruse) and House (Behning) education committees, we should keep using it.
...Rep. Bob Behning, chair of the House committee on education, wants the board to extend that contract. If extended, it would leave ISTEP+ in place through the 2018-19 school year.
TEACHER BONUS PAY BASED ON SCHOOL'S FAMILY INCOME
In the area of teacher bonus pay, the results of the state testing shows exactly what one would expect. Those teachers who work in wealthy districts have students who score higher on the ISTEP, and therefore get larger bonuses. In an earlier post, I wrote that
...standardized test scores measure family income. So when you base a teacher "bonus" plan on student standardized test scores you get a plan that favors teachers of the wealthy over teachers of the poor.And that's just what happened here.
Indiana's wealthiest districts get most teacher bonus pay
Data released Wednesday by the Indiana Department of Education shows Carmel Clay Schools leading the state in the most performance money per teacher at more than $2,400. Zionsville Community Schools came in second at more than $2,200, The Indianapolis Star reported.The amount of the "bonus" doesn't prove that teachers in high-poverty schools aren't as good as teachers in low-poverty schools. It is just more proof that family income determines school success.*
Comparatively, Indianapolis Public Schools will receive nearly $130 per teacher. Wayne Township Schools will see among the lowest payments, at just more than $40 per teacher.
TOXIC ENVIRONMENTS
One (of many) out-of-school factors which contributes to lowered academic achievement of children in poverty is an environment filled with toxins. Pollutants such as mercury, PCBs, toxic pesticides, and air pollution are all factors contributing to the health and brain function of children living in high-poverty areas. The most prevalent problem is, of course, lead.
In 2009, David C. Berliner, Regents' Professor Emeritus at Arizona State University, wrote in Poverty and Potential: Out-of-School Factors and School Success
It is now understood that there is no safe level of lead in the human body, and that lead at any level has an impact on IQ.The Centers for Disease Control sets the "safe lead exposure" levels and recently has suggested that the "safe" level should be lowered.
CDC considers lowering threshold level for lead exposure
The CDC adjusts its threshold periodically as nationwide average levels drop. The threshold value is meant to identify children whose blood lead levels put them among the 2.5 percent of those with the heaviest exposure.In other words, according to the CDC, the "safe" level is whatever level the bottom 2.5% of American children exhibit. The actual "safe" level is much lower (in fact, the only "safe" level of lead in a child's system is 0.00), but the cost of reducing lead levels in every child in America is too high.
"Lead has no biological function in the body, and so the less there is of it in the body the better," Bernard M Y Cheung, a University of Hong Kong professor who studies lead data, told Reuters. "The revision in the blood lead reference level is to push local governments to tighten the regulations on lead in the environment."
The federal agency is talking with state health officials, laboratory operators, medical device makers and public housing authorities about how and when to implement a new threshold.
...Any change in the threshold level carries financial implications. The CDC budget for assisting states with lead safety programs this year was just $17 million, and many state or local health departments are understaffed to treat children who test high.
Children attending schools in high poverty areas are exposed to lead at a much higher rate than in low poverty areas.
Children suffer from lead poisoning in 3,000 U.S. neighborhoods
A new study of public health records has discovered 3,000 neighborhoods in America where children suffer from lead poisoning. The study, by the Reuters news agency, found lead poisoning twice and even four times higher than what was seen in the recent contaminated water crisis in Flint, Michigan.That exposure has an impact on school success. Again, Berliner...
The neurological damage caused by lead pollution has been common knowledge for about a century, but even over recent decades, tragic effects such as this have been documented in families and communities around the world. Even after some obvious sources of lead in the environment were finally banned, reducing the numbers of children showing effects, too many children in the United States are still affected.
MAKING A CONNECTION
Our overuse and misuse of testing during the last few decades has led to over identifying schools in high poverty areas as "failing" without any regard for environmental toxins. Take the case of East Chicago schools...
Turnaround Meetings for Gary and East Chicago Schools
“If the school does receive a sixth F, and we expect those grades to come out this winter, then the board can begin looking at what options it wants to if any, take,” said [State Board of Education chief of staff, Brian] Murphy.At the same time, the schools being labeled as "failing" exist in an area where lead poisoning is ubiquitous.
East Chicago Lead Contamination Forces Nearly 1,200 from Homes
Both the EPA and the Department of Housing and Urban Development are trying to deal with the contamination and moving residents, but the two agencies aren’t exactly working together well. The mayor of East Chicago and the residents are also concerned about how the EPA handled the situation and worried about the long-term ramifications of lead exposure as well as the costs of moving.Do legislators read newspapers? Are they aware that 1) lead poisoning causes learning problems and 2) the so called "failing" schools are in areas with a high lead exposure? Why hasn't there been an outcry blaming the low test scores on the lead poisoning of East Chicago children? Can you guess how big a "bonus" teachers in East Chicago schools got this year?*
A Strange Ignorance: The role of lead poisoning in failing schools
"The education community has not really understood the dimensions of this because we don't see kids falling over and dying of lead poisoning in the classroom. But there's a very large number of kids who find it difficult to do analytical work or [even] line up in the cafeteria because their brains are laden with lead."As a consequence, teachers and school systems get blamed for what is beyond their control. The legislature can't (or won't) see the connection between the two situations, and children's futures, and their future contributions to the state, are damaged by their environment.
Legislators and "reformers" should quit placing the blame on schools, teachers, and children through punitive legislation aimed at "fixing" low achievement. It's the state's responsibility to provide a safe environment for all citizens...including those who don't have enough money to buy lobbyists.
When the legislature assumes its share of responsibility for "failing" to provide safe environmental conditions in our communities, and for "failing" to address the state's child poverty rate, then...maybe...we can start to talk about "failing" schools.
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East Chicago ANOTHER Race-Based Lead Poisoning
...with lead pipes it's like a recall on a product, but nobody wants to go back to the manufacturer and say, "Hey, you've made a mistake. You're poisoning people." We'll recall a vehicle, but we won't recall a pipe that is lead...a lead pipe that people are consuming water through. It's part of their daily consumption.
...We'll also recall leaded paint. But we're not recalling leaded pipes.
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*Data on the Teacher Performance Grants can be found on the Indiana Department of Education site. Click here to download a spreadsheet for each school district in Indiana. Pay special attention to the number of special education districts at the $0 end of the spreadsheet.
For demographic data on each school district see Indiana School District Demographic Characteristics. Note the family poverty rates for the school districts mentioned above: Carmel Clay=3.5%, Zionsville=3.1%, Indianapolis Public Schools=26.8%, and Wayne Township=14.7%.
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