Focus on Sacramento
Districts shouldn't act as mere puppets of Sacramento's education bureaucrats. Elected officials need to be lobbied and parents informed of changes needed from Sacramento. Districts must not just stay in defense mode or under the radar as a way of coping with wrongheaded decisions.
The following three objectives should be lobbied for immediately through elected officials.
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Lobby Publicly for 30 day turns of STAR Test Data
Background
1. The current STAR has no effect on student grades. Student performance past second grade is compromised as a result. However, schools are judged by the scores. This isn't just a weakness, but a travesty!
Do you fill out questionnaires for hours that don't matter to you?
2. It is common for multiple-choice tests such as the SAT or ACT to be scored in one month. It takes four months for the Sacramento to release student scores, and eight months for final results to schools.
This is a despicable. It screams of incompetency and corruption.
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Goals
1. STAR tests scored within 30 days so that students can be ranked as Advanced, Proficient, Basic, Low Basic, and Very Low Basic, which would allow final grades to be modified with normed test results.
2. Convince elected officials to hold hearings on how test scores could be issued faster. Demand that it be done. Faster delivery of tests should be achieved in the 2007-2008 school year. This is actually easy to implement.
3. Inform teachers that students who don't achieve Advanced are unworthy of an A, who don't achieve Proficient are unworthy of a B, and who don't earn Basic are unworthy of a C. This would greatly motivate improved STAR results and likely result in better API and AYP.
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Lobby Publicly for the ACT or SAT as the Exit Exam
Background
1. Several states such as Michigan, Illinois, and Colorado have had success using the ACT, a curriculum-based test, as their exit exams. Please note that the SAT is more of a reasoning test. The ACT tests student mastery of Sacramento's standards better than the SAT.
2. The SAT or ACT is used for college acceptance. The Sacramento Exit Exam serves no other purpose. It would save both low and higher income students real money, if the ACT or SAT were mandated.
3. When combined with ACT's Workkeys, vocational education is also covered.
Goal
Break the Sacramento desire for Sacramento-Standards-Only testing. This has been an invitation to corruption and isolates California, wastes money, and hurts kids. The ACT incorporates many California standards and is nationally normed, which matters. Hearings should be held. This is not a closed-room investigation. It needs light and air. The media should be involved and courted.
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Lobby Publicly for NCLB Biology NOT to be in Tenth Grade
Background
1. The three year high school science sequence runs either traditionally as Biology, Chemistry, Physics or reformed as Physics, Chemistry, Biology.
2. UC and most universities prefer at least three years of science.
3. Taking three years of rigorous high school science has high correlation with graduating college.
4. Sacramento requires 2 years of high school science. Biology is the most popular science course.
5. NCLB requires one science test in either the ninth, tenth, or eleventh grade on any topic. Sacramento chose tenth grade and Biology.
6. Sacramento's choice makes no pedagogical sense. It's simply wrong.
Goal
Pressure Sacramento elected officials to insist that either ninth or tenth or eleventh grade be acceptable years for the NCLB science test. An entire cohort should not be required to take the test at one time. This same approach works for mathematics. Keeping the test Biology is reasonable.
Note
It is possible that NCLB will require a science test each year in high school.
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