Rosa Parks Elementary Higher Test Scores

• Two takeaways from Rosa Parks Elementary's higher test scores: Editorial Agenda 2016
  

SBAC Testing and Opting Out

The Smarter Balanced Test - Parents and Lawmakers are Still Playing this Out

Oregon Live:  Oregon risks losing $140 million for enabling kids to skip Common Core tests, feds warn

Key Points:
This article talks about the current status on the parent backlash against the new testing in our schools. Oregon lawmakers are trying to make it easier for parents to opt out of testing. Currently they can but they need to site religious reasons. This law would enable parents to opt their children out without stating a reason. Supporter also want parents to be informed of their ability to opt out and also have schools with large opt out rate be protected against the consequences of the lower test scores that the school could average in this situation. The article reports that this law would put Title I money at risk because it has a mandatory testing requirement.

My kids took these tests this year. Apparently it was very different from the old OAKS test. I'm not sure how I feel about it, I guess we will see how effective they are. However, my son was put through the wringer at his school. He is a part time middle school student, but they had him do test after test, even in the subjects where he did not participate in school and it was crammed into the reduced time that he was at school. He is a good student so I assume they wanted his test scores on their record. This in itself isn't a result of the new tests, but the combination of having him do a lot of testing in a short time and having the tests be more challenging was not a good experience for him. He usually does not mind testing at all, but this year he really did.

Relevance:
This is a pretty big movement in our schools here in Oregon as well as across the nation. It will be interesting how it plays out.

Advocates for Spec. Ed., Gifted Weigh In on ESEA Rewrite - Education Week

Advocates for Spec. Ed., Gifted Weigh In on ESEA Rewrite - Education Week

May 5, 2015

Audience: Policy Makers, Educators, TAG & SPED Teachers and Families

Key Points: The United States Senate Education Committee on April 16 approved an amended and bolstered revision to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The next step is the Senate Floor. There would be an increased push for talented and gifted education funding and higher/better provisions for teacher support in TAG through federal funding of teacher training. It hopes to reduce the "excellence gap"

Snapshot on SBAC

Smarter Balanced test gets a thumbs-up from these Beaverton students
Oregonian
Article by Wendy Owen
Audience: Public, Parents and Educators
Link: http://www.oregonlive.com/beaverton/index.ssf/2015/04/beaverton_students_like_smarte.html#comments
I know that there are many more stories and perspectives out in the schools, but I have to think this is a heavily biased report. This seems like a snapshot, but by no-means a mosaic. It will be interesting to see after the SBAC
is administered what the new realities will be versus the pre-test anxieties of parents,

Smarter Balanced

This is a great article that I found about the new smarter balanced assessment that students will be taking this spring. It gives a brief introduction to what the new smarter balanced test is, compares it to the old OAKS test, and shows some sample questions. I found it interesting and also scary that Oregon officials estimate about two-thirds of students will fail this test the first year.




http://www.oregonlive.com/education/index.ssf/2014/11/what_are_smarter_balanced_test.html