As we prepare for the release of the scores on the state assessments, a recommendation for Colorado districts and schools. And for everyone eager to offer their take on the results. Countless studies and articles have set the stage for what to expect. (See “The COVID Academic Slide Could Be Worse Than Expected.”[i]) And we are not unique. Likely a learning loss in all 50 states. Maybe for most countries.
Be clear and honest in reporting the scores that show where students performed last spring on CMAS (3-8), PSAT (for 9th and 10th grades), and the college admissions exam (SAT) for 11th grade.
Offer no excuses, because this
not about blame. Over the past two years, decisions made on closing schools or
staying open varied across the state. Some rural students missed few weeks of
regular classroom teaching during the pandemic, while many urban students missed
most of an entire year. Some will be inclined to look back in anger: see
what your shutting down for so long cost our kids! Schools that stayed in
session most weeks might want to boast: see what we achieved by staying
open!
No need for that. Lessons to
learn on that front are for another day. In all humility, we probably have to
say no one got it exactly right. Let’s agree that school leaders had
tough decisions to make and did so with the best interests of the kids and teachers
in mind. Again, no blame.
What we need
now, above all, are the facts. We see superintendents strain to put the best
face on test scores, regardless of disappointing results. Do they fear we will
blame them? Do they find it necessary to spin the truth? Again, to all our
hard-working and well-intentioned superintendents, this year, there
is no blame. The pandemic and its effects are not on you. But please, if
the news is grim, let's have it.
What matters now is that we
acknowledge that there have been real consequences for the academic achievement
of our students. The impact of our COVID-years is not over. We must reckon with
this. Accept what the results tell us about any learning loss.
And of course no one is blaming
students either. If in 2022 5th graders scored well below the
proficiency-level they achieved in 2019 (pre-COVID), let’s acknowledge this
reality. Last year’s fifth graders now enter our 6th grade
classrooms. If they are a year or more behind where 6th graders were
back in the fall of 2019, so be it. Much will need to be re-examined, if we are
to meet students where they are.
We already hear from those who
will belittle the results.[i]
(A repeat of how dismissive many were a year ago? That was more understandable,
given the incomplete data for 2021.) Please, no sugar-coating the facts. No
unwarranted optimism that student achievement will be “back to normal” soon
enough. If our sixth graders are truly not close to performing at grade level,
tell us. We need to know.
An
alert to K-3 teachers: what CMAS/CDE won’t tell us, but what the 2021 READ ACT
report suggests
I now put on my Cassandra hat and
explain why I am most concerned by what you and I will not see in these
spring 2022 results. (Even if districts and schools, which receive a more
complete breakdown of individual scores, could tell us.) CMAS will not tell us
the percentage of 3rd or 4th graders who were reading
at a proficient level last spring. As I have written many times before (See Addendum), it is disappointing that the Colorado Department of Education only presents
English Language Arts (ELA) scores, a “literacy score,” and we see no breakdown
on the reading skills versus the writing skills of our boys and girls.
(As any English teacher will tell you, they are separate skills. AV#193
revealed the gap in reading versus writing scores for elementary students
during the last seven years of CSAP/TCAP testing. Also see Addendum, AV#193.)
2022 CMAS scores will only tell
us something like this, which we saw for 2021 and 2019.
|
2021 English Language
Arts/Literacy on CMAS – Grade 3 - Percentages |
||||||
|
|
Did Not Yet Meet Expectations |
Partially Met Expectations |
Approached Expectations |
Met Expectations |
Did Not Yet Meet Expectations |
Total Met or Exceeded Expectations |
|
2021 |
21.5% |
18.0% |
21.4% |
34.9% |
4.2% |
39.1% |
https://www.cde.state.co.us/assessment/2021_cmas_ela_math_statesummaryachievementresults
|
2019 English Language Arts/Literacy on CMAS –
Grade 3 - Percentages |
||||||
|
|
Did Not Yet Meet
Expectations |
Partially Met Expectations |
Approached Expectations |
Met Expectations |
Did Not Yet Meet
Expectations |
Total Met or Exceeded
Expectations |
|
2019 |
17.3% |
18.3% |
23.2% |
36.8% |
4.5% |
41.3% |
https://www.cde.state.co.us/assessment/2019_cmas_ela_math_statesummaryachievementresults
Here is my fear. Consider that “lowest”
category, “Did Not Yet Meet.” For 2022, CMAS will suggest, but not
reveal, how many more 3rd graders are now struggling to read.
To find out, we must turn to the state’s data on reading for K-3
students. We go to last year’s READ Act scores - see below. (2022 figures not yet available).
The READ Act focuses on identifying and serving K-3 students designated as
having a Significant Reading Deficiency (SRD). These students need extraordinary
support to climb from the bottom rung of the ladder (SRD) up to reading at
grade level. Note how the number of K-3 students struggling to read grew
dramatically during COVID. In some districts, the number has ballooned.
2021 READ ACT: Percentage
of K-3 students identified as SRD - Significantly Reading Deficient
|
2017-18 |
2018-19 |
2020-21 |
Increase from 2018-19 to 2020-21 |
|
|
4 urban
school districts |
|
|
|
|
|
Adams 14 |
39.8 |
40.6 |
59.7 |
+19.1 |
|
Aurora Public Schools |
35.8 |
34.2 |
46.3 |
+12.1 |
|
Westminster |
31.8 |
32.6 |
43.5 |
+10.9 |
|
Pueblo 60 |
18.6 |
20.5 |
33.5 |
+13 |
|
2 rural school districts |
|
|
|
|
|
Montezuma-Cortez |
21.7 |
25.1 |
38.5 |
+13.4 |
|
Center |
13.1 |
17.5 |
35.3 |
DOUBLED |
|
State of
Colorado |
|
|
|
|
|
% of K-3 students ID’d as SRD |
15.5 |
16.3 |
22.8 |
+6.5 |
|
Total # K-3 students assessed |
255,114 |
250,923 |
231,850 |
-19,073 |
From READ ACT DATA DASHBOARD - https://www.cde.state.co.us/code/readactdashboard,
and from
READ Report – 2020
Annual Report -https://www.cde.state.co.us/coloradoliteracy/2020-read-act-report
By law, as of this week, all K-3 teachers in Colorado should be trained in “evidence-based reading” instruction.[ii] A good step, but consider this. Half of our K-3 students in Adams 14 and Aurora were identified as SRD in 2021. Imagine a 26-year-old, third-year teacher with 30 students, half of them identified as SRD. Now ask her (even with the best training in the world) to faithfully carry out all the READ Act requirements, and to meet the needs of all her students. Unlikely, you say. Too bleak.
Maybe, but this is why we must ask more questions. Dig deeper than CMAS. Find out the extent of the learning loss for our youngest students. How many are struggling to read? I hope we can handle the truth.
Addendum
Another View #168 (Oct. 3, 2017)
ELA scores hide the
gap: give us reading and writing scores (again)
Another View #192 (April 9, 2019)
Assessing reading and
writing: different skills, different results
Part 1 – 1993 - 2001:
What we don’t know can hurt us
ELA scores do not provide schools, teachers, parents, or students
critical information
From AV#193 (April
16, 2019)
Part 2 – 2002 - 2018
Statewide assessments were given (CSAP through 2011; TCAP 2012-14) on each of the core content standards: reading, writing, and math. CDE presented the results to parents and the public. And those scores (see below) revealed the on-going gap in reading and writing skills.
Colorado – grades 3-5 - % proficient/advanced in reading versus writing
(2007-2014)[iii]
|
|
Grade 3 |
Grade 4 |
Grade 5 |
||||||
|
|
reading |
writing |
gap |
reading |
writing |
gap |
reading |
writing |
gap |
|
2007(CSAP) |
71 |
54 |
17 % pts |
64 |
49 |
15 % pts |
69 |
57 |
12 % pts |
|
2008(CSAP |
70 |
50 |
20 % pts |
66 |
52 |
14 % pts |
70 |
59 |
11 % pts |
|
2009(CSAP) |
73 |
54 |
19 % pts |
65 |
51 |
14 % pts |
69 |
58 |
11 % pts |
|
2010(CSAP) |
70 |
50 |
20 % pts |
66 |
50 |
16 % pts |
70 |
57 |
13 % pts |
|
2011(CSAP) |
73 |
51 |
22 % pts |
65 |
56 |
9 % pts |
69 |
60 |
9 % pts |
|
2012(TCAP) |
74 |
52 |
22 % pts |
67 |
49 |
18 % pts |
69 |
58 |
11 % pts |
|
2013(TCAP |
73 |
51 |
22 % pts |
68 |
56 |
12 % pts |
70 |
57 |
13 % pts |
|
2014(TCAP) |
72 |
51 |
21 % pts |
67 |
52 |
15 % pts |
71 |
55 |
16 % pts |
Another View #217 (Oct. 15, 2020)
Any progress on reading? What do we
know?
Part 1 – (K-3) - Reporting on the
READ Act that has not proved helpful.
Part 2: Grades 3-6 – next issue
Another View #218 (Nov. 10, 2020)
Part 2 (Grade 3-6) – NAEP & ELA
scores are not enough; CDE must tell us more
[i] By Sarah Sparks, Education Week, https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/the-covid-academic-slide-could-be-worse-than-expected/2022/02
[ii] Amie
Baca-Oehlert, president of the Colorado Education Association: “I would
urge caution to jumping to conclusions just using the CMAS scores alone,
because if you think about it, it’s very hard to draw comparisons right now,”
“State Sen. Tammy Story, D-Conifer, who’s vice chair
of the Senate Education Committee, … believes CMAS should not be given out
until school environments are back to ‘normal.’ Story said, ‘I don’t see these
(tests) as a good baseline to compare to when there is so much disruption.’”
“Education trends were on the right track prior to pandemic,” The Gazette,
by David Mullen, Aug. 7, 2022. https://gazette.com/news/education/education-trends-were-on-the-right-track-prior-to-pandemic/article_11bac9ae-153a-11ed-a537-4bc94a842bb7.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=cb_bureau_colorado&utm_source=Chalkbeat&utm_campaign=7f7e8dcf7d-Colorado+DACA+opened+doors+to+education+for+some+b&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_9091015053-7f7e8dcf7d-1296398182
[iii] K-3 teacher evidence-based reading training
deadline is Monday
All
kindergarten through third-grade educators who teach reading and literacy
skills in Colorado must complete their evidence-based reading training
requirements by Monday, Aug. 1. Documentation that they complied with the K-3
evidence-based reading training requirements should be submitted by Monday, Aug
15. https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?tab=rm&ogbl#inbox/FMfcgzGqPpcnXHwqQNgnlSXXhNvdlZdB
[iv]
SCORES - 2007 from “CSAP Roundup – State officials hope flat results spark
changes,” The Denver Post, Aug. 1,
2007; CSAP/TCAP SCORES - 2008-2014 from CDE web site, https://www.cde.state.co.us/assessment/coassess-dataandresults.
GAP – my own math.
