state assessments...
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The reason for the lack of diverse perspectives is in my estimation a
more worthwhile topic of investigation than whether there should or
should not be state assessments. Recommendations about what to do with
assessment results would also be of great value. Summaries of findings
and recommendations can and should be made available to all school
boards and school committees along with a profile of how students from
every district performed 20, 10, and 2 years ago. We might find that
these resources expended until now might have had a more positive effect
if they had been used differently (perhaps to seek out answers to why
diverse perspectives are so difficult to include when we know they are
readily available).
-----Original Message-----
From: Dolores.A.Grayson@phoenix.edc.org
Subject: [EDEQUITY Assessment Dialogue] Maryland's statewide
assessment............................................................
One of the ways to counter some of these effects will be for the grass
root responses to get louder about the institutionalized inequities of
traditional sorting and testing. Making people more aware of what we've
learned from the research and history can help. On one hand we worry
about dropout rates, on the other, we reinstate systemic testing
designed to result in greater retention. Research has already proven
that grade retention is the strongest predictor for dropping out of
school. According to an article in the Boston Globe last month, parent
income and education are the best predictors of MCAS (the
Massachusetts') statewide test scores.
At the conclusion of a three-year study that I conducted with 9 clusters
of administrators across the country during the 90's, I asked them to
identify what they perceived to be the most persistent equity-related
issue(s) with which we would deal in this new century. Overwhelmingly,
they identified the lack of diverse perspectives and representation in
curriculum content and materials and the testing and assessment by which
schools would be held accountable. They could not have been more
prophetic.
Dolores A Grayson, Ph.D.
GrayMill
22821 Cove View St.
Canyon Lake, CA 92587
(909) 246-2106
(909) 246-2107 Fax
dgrayson@iinet.com
www.graymill.com
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