At the PTA-sponsored parent education session, “Too Much Testing?: A Dialogue Between Educators and Parents,”  a panel of local and state educators described the various assessments administered at Davis High School, what they measure, and how the results may be used.

Last year a significant portion of DHS students “opted-out” of taking STAR (Standardized Testing and Reporting) tests.  Parents exercised their legal right to waive the requirement for their student to be tested.  This year’s decline in Academic Performance Index (API) score, from 845 in 2005 to 825 in 2006, is widely thought to have been the result of these opt-outs.  Presenters at the session stressed the need for all students to participate in STAR testing, offering the following reasons:

• Schools receiving Title I funding, as DHS does, must test at least 95% of the student population or fail to make adequate yearly progress as defined by the No Child Left Behind Act.   Consistent failure to do so results in increasingly severe sanctions which eventually require outside intervention in the day-to-day operation of a school.  

• STAR testing is one measure of how well students learn what teachers teach.  Results are used at the school and district level to identify areas of weakness and target intervention. 

• The school’s API is based on STAR test results.  Educators, elected officials, colleges, and home buyers look at the API to evaluate the strength of a school program.  In particular, colleges may use the school’s API to place a student’s grade point average within a broader context.  A dropping API is cause for concern.

• As years of STAR test data begin to accumulate, it is possible to analyze trends and identify broad areas of concern, such as the significant racial gap in achievement among Davis students.  Community effort can then be focused on identifying the reasons for this gap and finding means to address it, as is currently being done by the DJUSD Achievement Gap Task Force. 

Parents in attendance engaged the presenters in discussion of how to make the STAR program more relevant to students. Though not permitted under the currently mandated program, the possibility of including STAR scores on report cards or allowing performance on the more “high stakes” tests (e.g. CAHSEE or AP exams) to substitute for STAR assessment were suggested.  

Following the session, discussion continued on DHS listservers with parents raising concerns about whether standardized assessments actually measure what they are intended to measure, whether too much instructional time is sacrificed to assessment, and whether teachers should align their instruction closely to the standards being tested or be given greater autonomy. 

Opinions exist on all sides of the debate, and while it is clear that the current system of assessment is not without flaws, the good news is that parents do have power to affect change.  Presenters encouraged parents to communicate concerns to elected state officials - those responsible for oversight of the present system.  Legislation pending at the state level changing the current assessment group from 2^nd-11^th graders to 3^rd-11^th graders is an example of one change largely initiated by parents.

For those who would like to further explore these topics, more information is available at:
 

Tests Administered in the Davis Joint Unified School District 2006-07
http://www.dhspta.org/pta/newsletters/0607/0704/tests

“Too Much Testing? Interim Superintendent [Richard Whitmore] Weighs In on Standardized Tests” by Julie Rooney, Davis Enterprise, April 3, 2007
http://www.dhspta.org/pta/newsletters/0607/0705/testing2

“Racial Gap Wide in Test Scores: Davis Stats Remain High” by Jeff Hudson, Davis Enterprise, March 27, 2007
http://www.dhspta.org/pta/newsletters/0607/0705/testing3

 
Susan Lovenburg
DHS PTA parent education coordinator