By: janetl

janetl — Wed, 26 Jul 2006 15:15:58 +0000

> Mayor Daily announced an “historic day” for Chicago Public
> Schools, with
> a dramatic jump in 8th grade math scores.
> Scores went to 62.5 percent passing the the Illinois State Achievemnt
> Standards Test this year from 47.3 percent last year.
>
> The Mayor did not report that the Illinois State Board lowered the
> passigng score for 8th grade math to the 38th percentile this year
> from
> the 67th percentile last year.
>
> The Chicago Tribune commented that “We didn’t dramatically improve
> performance. We drmatically lowered the bar.”
>
> Janet Lerner
> janetlerner@juno.com
>
> The Chicago Tribune Story about these dramatic improvements.
>
> Chicago Tribune, July, 17. 2006
>
> An ‘A’ for everybody!
> They must be teaching some new kind of fuzzy
> math at Chicago Public Schools.
> This week Mayor Richard Daley and school
> officials announced a dramatic jump in the number
> of pupils who passed their state standardized
> tests last spring. Daley said this was a “historic
> day”
> “With these results,” said Daley, “it’s clear we
> are on our way to becoming the best urban school
> district in the nation.”
> Whoa there, Mr. Mayor. How did we get this
> “historic” jump in performance?
> Illinois State Board of Education officials
> Sharply reduced the requirement for a passing
> Score in 8th grade math. We didn’t dramatically
> Improve performance. We dramatically lowered
> The bar.
> The desire to show progress in the City’s public
> School system is easy to understand. Progress
> seems to have slowed after the initial revolution
> just over a decade ago, when City Hall took over
> the reins. Indeed that has been frustrating. But
> please, don’t try to sell this as dramatic progress.
> City officials reported that 62.5 percent of 3rd
> Through 8th graders hi Chicago public schools
> Passed the Illinois Standards Achievement Test.
> That was a jump from 47.3 percent the previous
> year.
> But the state board in that time lowered the
> Passing score for 8th grade math from the 67th to
> the 38th percentile. Yes, the score for meet the
> state standards was cut almost in half.
> Back in February, the Illinois Business Round
> Table said the change would result in 32,000 more
> Illinois pupils meeting the math requirement
> “on the basis of an administrative stroke of the
> pen.”
> “This action…diminishes the work and
> achievement of those who have met our standards; and
> it tells those who have failed to meet
> our standards that it’s OK…our administration
> will change the rules before changing the education
> our students receive,” the business group
> wrote in a sharply critical letter to the board.
>
>
> Other changes helped to improve results. Pupils
> were given 10 more minutes to complete
> their reading, math and science exams. A new
> color format offered more vibrant charts and
> graphics. In Chicago, for the first time, student;
> took two preliminary tests that highlighted their
> deficits. The city also dropped the Iowa Test of
> Basic Skills, which allowed teachers to focus
> their efforts on one test.
> Those aren’t all unreasonable steps—but some
> seem clearly designed to produce better numbers,
> not better-educated kids.
> With the changes, it’s very difficult if not
> Impossible to compare this year’s results with last
> year’s. Maybe Chicago public school students did
> make progress. But how can anyone tell?
> _______________________________________________

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By: janetl