E-mail Story
Print Friendly
Send E-mail
Reprint story
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
APS Teachers Say Test Data Inaccurate
By Andrea Schoellkopf
Journal Staff Writer
Data showing Albuquerque Public Schools elementary proficiency rates by classroom apparently miscounted the number of students in some classrooms.
Several teachers reported to the Journal that the number of exams that APS reported for their classrooms was inaccurate. The data, which was prepared by APS, was posted on the Journal's Web site in late February.
Fourth-grade teacher Cathy Jordan said she and her principal sat down and tried to figure out how the district's numbers were different from her own.
"I had 21 students last year, and all the students took both the reading and math tests," wrote Jordan, a teacher at SY Jackson Elementary. "So, I should have 42 tests or 21 tests. How could there only be 32?"
The APS results show the number of math and reading tests, according to the district, so 42 tests in most cases reflects 21 students.
A spokesman for APS said in some cases, tests were considered "spoiled" and not counted, so it looked like there were fewer students who completed the test than were in the class.
In other cases, students' tests may have been mistakenly assigned to the wrong classrooms in the school.
"The student information system only looks at school enrollment," said spokesman Rigo Chavez, speaking on behalf of Research, Development and Accountability director Rose-Ann McKernan. "It's up to each individual school to look at what class the student is actually in, and if the student transferred from one (class) to another."
APS does not know how widespread the problem is but said it should not have had a great impact on the proficiency rates in the classrooms. One class that was checked, he said, showed a 1 percent difference between the reported and actual proficiency level.
He said that this year, the district is tracking the number of language arts, math and science tests and using the three numbers to come up with a classroom total.
"It was never designed to look at teachers," Chavez said of the system they used to pull the classroom information. "It was designed to look at schools."
Albuquerque Teachers Federation president Ellen Bernstein, who had opposed release of the classroom scores, said she also heard from teachers about inconsistencies.
"There's some sort of public judgment in the way their class falls in the ratings," Bernstein said about the teachers' opinions. "... If this is public, shouldn't it be accurate? If it's not accurate, is somebody judging me inappropriately because of it?"
You also can send comments via our comment form
|
|
