AV#250 - On reporting 2022 student achievement scores: be clear, be honest, no spin.

 

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 9^th and 10^th grades), and the college admissions exam (SAT) for 11^th 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 5^th 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 6^th grade classrooms. If they are a year or more behind where 6^th 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 3^rd or 4^th 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 3^rd 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

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Endnotes

[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.