Blog: Dermot Cole
•On a math test given to a sample of students across the country, 38 percent of the Alaska students in fourth grade were judged "proficient."
But on the math test given to Alaska students and scored on a yardstick developed in Alaska, about three-quarters of fourth graders were deemed "proficient" in math.
Something doesn't add up.
My Monday column is about this discrepancy in definitions, which I cite as a reason why the state should participate in the national effort by 48 states to develop "common core" standards foir education. http://newsminer.com/news/dermotcole/
The state Department of Education doesn't agree with me. The department has been adamant that Alaska is correct in holding out. The only other state not taking part is Texas.
I have asked Education Commissioner Larry LeDoux for his take on the proficiency gap and he's planning to get back to me soon.
•In the meantime, here are two documents from the department regarding its position on the common standards plan.
EED’s position on common core standards
Alaska has not signed the states’ memorandum of agreement with the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers.
Alaska will monitor but not participate in the effort to create common core standards in reading and math.
Our reasons:
Alaska already has detailed standards for student performance in reading, writing and math for each grade from 3-10. We have spent considerable time and money developing assessments that measure these standards.
They were developed by hundreds of Alaska educators, not the department alone. We are not ready to give up what we have developed.
But we do want Alaska to be competitive and have world-class standards. The Alaska Education Plan assumes that we will revisit our standards.
We will monitor the process of setting common core standards.
The timeline for producing those is so short (December 2009 for two subjects in 13 grade levels) that we are concerned that states, let alone school districts, will not have much input into the process.
Achieve, a nonprofit organization, is largely writing the standards. Another group of experts will review them. The states are not sitting around a table writing the standards.
We have briefly reviewed the first stage of the common core standards. Alaska’s reading and writing standards are very similar to the common core language standards. However, the common core math standards contain some skills that are not in our standards.
Note that the common core standards do not produce nationally uniform standards, and thus will not lead to a true national assessment.
Participating states agree only that the new standards will compose at least 85 percent of their state’s standards. In other words, there will be a variation of up to 15 percent between the standards of any given state and any other state.
It might be wiser for the sponsoring organizations to first conduct a study that compares the states’ standards with each other. We believe that such a study would show considerable nationwide uniformity in standards already.
In fact, uniformity in state standards may not be the problem. Rather, there may be a need for some states to set higher passing scores on their standards-based assessments. In other words, higher expectations for students could come through higher thresholds for demonstrating proficiency.
If schools are to acquire accurate data about the same students’ performance over time so that instruction can be shaped to meet students’ needs, then students must take the same assessments year after year.
Changing the standards will mean changing the assessments, which will reset the data clock to Year One. Meanwhile, each school’s curriculum and each teacher’s instruction would have to incorporate the new standards. We are still working with struggling districts to align their curriculum with the state’s current standards, developed several years ago.
The process of incorporating the common core standards into Alaska’s standards will be lengthy and expensive.
Participating states have three years to do so. Then there will be a need for new assessments, also the result of a long, costly process. Federal funds may cover some but not all of this expense.
In the meantime, the department and districts are busy with the stimulus, school improvement, and the usual functions. Are new standards and assessments the best use of time and money?
The proposed regulations for the competitive federal stimulus grant program, dubbed Race to the Top, do not require a state to participate in the common core standards. But participation clearly will be looked upon favorably.
It’s hard to say whether Alaska would receive one of the grants, regardless of the circumstances. We will apply.
Remember, standards do not represent the most that schools ask of students. They are not a ceiling or a limitation. Many schools ask more of students, and many students surpass the standards.
Schools should indeed have higher expectations of students. But high expectations come from the home and the school, not the standards booklet.
A significant number of Alaska students are not proficient in reading, writing and math. In some schools, very few students are proficient. Alaska’s focus today is on taking practical steps to increase those students’ achievement.
The solution to the real problem, which is low achievement, lies in the interaction of teachers and students in the classroom, and the role of the community in preparing students to learn.
We are taking steps, with the districts, to improve instruction. We are preparing to hire a rural education director who will work with communities. We have an Alaska Education Plan to shape our priorities.
The second document is a commentary by Education Commissioner Larry LeDoux, written earlier this year when Gov. Sarah Palin was still in office, in which he supports the state's decision to not participate with the other states in the planning effort:
Some Alaskans are concerned about the Palin administration’s decision to monitor, but not actively participate in, an upcoming effort to create common national standards in reading and math.
Critics believe we are missing an opportunity to see how our students compare with students in other states, or they think we are satisfied with Alaska’s schools as they are. Neither assertion is true.
A state that adopts the initiative’s results must agree that the common standards will compose at least 85 percent of the state’s standards. That means each state’s standards will differ from the other states’ standards by as much as 15 percent.
This difference ruins any state-by-state comparison of assessment results. The only true comparison would come from a uniform national assessment. For now, Alaska has two assessments, admittedly imperfect and incomplete, that compare some of our students nationally.
The impetus for common standards arose out of the feeling that some states’ expectations for their students are too low.
The fear is that in some states many nonproficient students are being declared proficient. But that is probably not because those states’ standards are deficient. It is probably because their assessments are too easy. They may need a more rigorous definition of proficiency and a higher threshold for students’ passing scores.
We have doubts about the pace of the standard-setting process and the value of states’ input. The initiative’s sponsors -- the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers – expect to produce reading and math standards for 13 grade levels in just six months.
That makes us think the sponsors already have consultants lined up who know what they want, and any one state – especially one with a small population -- will have little influence on the final product.
Alaska already has detailed standards for student performance in reading, writing and math for each grade from 3 to 10. Alaska has performance standards for the earlier grades and 300 pages of early learning guidelines.
We have spent considerable time and money developing assessments that measure the standards for grades 3 to 10. Hundreds of Alaskan educators were involved in creating those standards and assessments.
We are not ready to give up what we have developed, but we are open to anything good that comes from the national initiative. We remain free to take from it whatever suits Alaskans in achieving higher standards.
Alaska’s decision to wait and see, and to use our own process to improve standards, will result in more input by our school districts than if we had signed on to the national initiative at the start with the intention of accepting all of the results.
We do want Alaska to be competitive and have world-class standards. We do have high expectations for our schools, educators and students. We understand the need to set the bar high.
This past winter, several hundred Alaskans from all walks of life convened to create an ambitious plan for Alaska’s K-12 public education system.
The plan includes a comprehensive list of the attributes we would like our high school graduates to have as a result of their public schooling. Alaskans said they want much more than good test scores, so in that sense we have set a very high bar. The plan includes numerous actions we need to take to achieve our goals. It is a full plate.
Accountability begins with awareness. The Alaska Department of Education & Early Development annually publishes clear information about student achievement in a report card to the public. Each year we report the schoolwide and districtwide results of the No Child Left Behind accountability system, as well.
Numerous Alaska students are not proficient in reading, writing and math. In some schools, very few students are proficient.
Nearly a third of our students do not graduate from high school. Many Alaskans who attend the University of Alaska need at least one remedial course. Alaska’s focus today is on taking practical steps to increase those students’ achievement.
The solutions to low achievement lie in the interaction of well-prepared teachers and ready-to-learn students in the classroom, and in the community’s role in preparing students to learn.
The state and the districts are taking steps to improve instruction. We are hiring a rural education director who will work with communities. We are launching publicly funded preschools. We have an Alaska Education Plan to shape our priorities.
Standards are a road map. We know where we need to go. Now it is time to go on the journey toward higher student achievement, not to stop and create another map.
Interesting debate and thank you for bringing it to our attention. I've read that the only area where Alaskan kids surpass their lower 49 American counterparts is in negative numbers. It seems our kids do know that if it is 35 below zero and you subtract another 15 degrees, it is 50 below zero and cold enough to put on another layer of clothing.
It sounds like we don't want to give up all the work we've done but it looks like we need to set our bar a little higher than we have done to date.
Same old story -
A lot of talk but ZERO results.....
blah blah blah
more plans, more programs, more employees
blah blah blah
At $14,000 a student you would think we could get SOME results...but no - its the kids, its the parents, its society.....
But what is NEVER the culprit?????
The FNSBSD, the teachers, the schools, the unions!!!!!!
If I showed comparable results I would be out a job!
For $ 14,000 per student, you'd think our school system could graduate more than 2/3 of it's students? Does any one really want to talk about the graduation rate as a means to decide success or failure? Testing scores are interesting, but can a graduate really read, do simple math [like balance a check book] understand how our government works & why, know our country's history, how to show up for work every day, much less be able to even get a job, how to look at basic finance
like renting an apartment, buying a car, paying for insurance
or hundreds of necessary things just to live?
Interesting article on a day...you guessed...where there is NO SCHOOL because of TEACHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT DAY!
Here's and idea...how less vacation days (oops I meant professional development days) for teachers!
Power -
I am all for those professional development days....I just prefer they take them IN THE SUMMER!!!!!!!
The math doesn't add up in Alaska. Good one Dermont.
"The solutions to low achievement lie in the interaction of well-prepared teachers and ready-to-learn students in the classroom, and in the community’s role in preparing students to learn."
Larry LeDoux is correct in this statement. But let's put it in plain English and take off the sugar coating.
"The rural communities (which are poorly educated) must stop crying 'This teacher is prejudice' when a student fails, and start supporting the teachers who are trying to help the children. Parents must support the teachers and quit biting the hand that feeds them."
We must stop grading on a curve which makes the 67% an A.
In my mind, the question is how do we change a destructive culture? In some Alaska communities, we have created a culture of failure, and called it good.
I don't believe this is a Anchorage/Fairbanks problem, as much as it is a rural Alaska problem.
I'd like to check out that math test!
rightofattila said
I don't believe this is a Anchorage/Fairbanks problem, as much as it is a rural Alaska problem.
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You haven't paid very close attention to the FNSB graduation rate
I don't think it's just a rural Alaska problem. Go look at the data. It's only some of the smaller rural districts which really shine in this State. http://www.eed.state.ak.us/AYP/2009/Summ... Wonder what they are doing correctly in the Pribilof Islands? Their school is rural, mostly Alaska native, they have a high percentage reported as economic disadvantaged - yet they are reporting good test scores for their students. So just not a urban or rural problem for sure.
Carstars and Power. I hope you are correct. All I have is anecdotal info from teachers in village across the interior and Arctic. Note that I didn't say it wasn't a problem in the cities... I think it's more of a problem in the villages. I could be wrong.
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