Standardized test scores - Page 2

[LynnS6]

Originally Posted by Ellie'sMom 

Not only were we notified (by e-mail from DD's teacher), the kids were individually told their scores by the classroom teacher. I thought that was very odd. I don't ever remember knowing my achievement test scores in the elementary grades. The state test here is scaled 1-5. We have not been given specific percentages, but told their scaled scores. 

Well, our kids NCLB achievement tests are given on-line on the computer. The kids (a) know the score they need to achieve to pass and (b) get the score immediately when they are done. So, our son came home and said I got XYZ on the state reading test. I could then look up his raw score and see what XYZ meant.

So, to answer the OP: Our son knew his score, he also got his test scores told to us verbally at his spring parent-teacher conference, informally by his reading teacher ("he blew the test away!") and formally with his last report card.  They don't start the state tests until 3rd grade in our state, so we don't have any state scores for dd, but we do have scores for her TAG testing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kwilki8 

I think it's probably an issue of who has the authority to print you a copy of the scores. Our school does MAP testing, and as a teacher, I don't ever see a hard copy score report; my access is through my personal account on the company's website. If a parent asked me about a child's scores, I would talk about them but would not print a copy of the report because I don't know if that's allowable. Our district office handles the management of all testing data, and I would probably have to talk to them. I would do that, however, and it sounds like that's where there was a communication lapse on the part of your child's teacher. The principal is likely in the same situation. It may take a while to get a response from the school during the summer; a lot of schools around here have their administrators on an 11-month contract, and even the ones who work year-round typically take vacation in July.

It could well be a matter of access. Some schools have one designated 'data' person and they have to go through them. Other schools let the teachers see things individually. Our schools, as I said above, can easily print out a copy for me if I want, so it's clearly allowed by their test data.

[captain optimism]

This makes so much sense to me! It's the most helpful piece of information so far. 

If the principal can't get the test data, I'll have to go to the district level. I just don't understand why they don't know this. Does that mean that no other parents asked? I know that's not true. It seems like it's a really high priority for the school to administer the tests and display the results, but the idea of sharing scores with parents is foreign or something. 

Originally Posted by kwilki8 

I think it's probably an issue of who has the authority to print you a copy of the scores. Our school does MAP testing, and as a teacher, I don't ever see a hard copy score report; my access is through my personal account on the company's website. If a parent asked me about a child's scores, I would talk about them but would not print a copy of the report because I don't know if that's allowable. Our district office handles the management of all testing data, and I would probably have to talk to them. I would do that, however, and it sounds like that's where there was a communication lapse on the part of your child's teacher. The principal is likely in the same situation. It may take a while to get a response from the school during the summer; a lot of schools around here have their administrators on an 11-month contract, and even the ones who work year-round typically take vacation in July.

[lauren]

We get ours at the fall conference after they take them in the spring.

[captain optimism]

Today I got tired of waiting for the school to respond to my letter and repeated emails, and I decided to check out whether there was anyone at the school district office who handles this stuff. There is actually a department for assessment in the superintendent's office, so I phoned there and asked for the scores. The administrator tried to persuade me that I didn't need to see them. (Yeah, and so? I'm sure they're irrelevant now but I'm going to see them, damnit!) So I asked him whether there was a technical problem in printing out the scores. 

From what I gathered, and maybe this isn't accurate, but it seems like there's one person in our whole school system who knows how to get data off the testing company website! 

I owe you, kwiki8! If you hadn't clued me in that this might be an issue, I would have gotten totally bogged down in arguing about my rights to the scores, rather than understanding why people were stonewalling me. The administrator has promised to ask this ONE PERSON to get me the report. 

If this isn't the biggest anti-climax in my life as a mom, I don't know what will be. 

Originally Posted by kwilki8 

I think it's probably an issue of who has the authority to print you a copy of the scores. Our school does MAP testing, and as a teacher, I don't ever see a hard copy score report; my access is through my personal account on the company's website. If a parent asked me about a child's scores, I would talk about them but would not print a copy of the report because I don't know if that's allowable. Our district office handles the management of all testing data, and I would probably have to talk to them. I would do that, however, and it sounds like that's where there was a communication lapse on the part of your child's teacher. The principal is likely in the same situation. It may take a while to get a response from the school during the summer; a lot of schools around here have their administrators on an 11-month contract, and even the ones who work year-round typically take vacation in July.

[captain optimism]

Since I listened to kwiki8, I got the scores! Whew! 

[Mizelenius]

I am glad you got the scores! 

They also use MAP testing at my DD's school.  They are tested twice per yr and we get the scores sent home along with the report card.  She was only in KG.

I am VERY happy I got the scores, personally.  While I know lower scores do not always mean anything (could be a bad day or whatever), to me, the high scores count for something.  Knowing the scores gives me some leverage if I want for appropriate education, or at least confirm what I thought.

[captain optimism]

What's very crazy is that I learned from another mom that in other schools in our district, the scores were sent home with the report cards. At our school, the principal is continuing to refuse to send home scores from last year. I think something is very wrong here. The kids take the tests THREE times a year, and all the scores are posted on a data wall, and they could not see their way clear to share the scores with parents. 

My husband had to talk me down from transferring our kid out of the school over this. It just feels very wrong to me that they put my kid through three sittings of a three-hour long test and then refuse to share the results. (Results, by the way, which were pretty damned dramatic and interesting.) I've researched and this seems to be in violation of a state law about sharing transcripts with parents. Ugh. Well, new year, new teacher. 
 

Originally Posted by Mizelenius 

I am glad you got the scores! 

They also use MAP testing at my DD's school.  They are tested twice per yr and we get the scores sent home along with the report card.  She was only in KG.

I am VERY happy I got the scores, personally.  While I know lower scores do not always mean anything (could be a bad day or whatever), to me, the high scores count for something.  Knowing the scores gives me some leverage if I want for appropriate education, or at least confirm what I thought.

[kwilki8]

That's a whole other issue, then, and it sounds like it's one that should be addressed at the district level. It doesn't make sense for score reports to go out to some schools and not to yours. While I could see there being some bugs to work out of the communication chain as a school implements a testing program, it's totally wrong for the principal to refuse to release scores. And it doesn't make any sense for the school from a PR perspective--most schools are falling over themselves to show what they are doing to improve students' test scores, it seems. Especially since it sounds like your school is pushing for data-driven instruction (which is a good thing, and what MAP promotes), it seems really odd that the administration at your school hasn't figured out how to share that information.

[captain optimism]

All true, but I am not upset that they aren't sending the scores out to everyone in our school--just that they are not giving them to parents who ask for them. It sounded like the assistant superintendent in charge of the test scores knew that my kid's school wasn't sending them out, because when I phoned him, he started to ask me whether the (now former) principal had explained why we didn't need to see the scores. 

Uh, no. No one told me point blank, "we refuse to give you your child's test scores," they just...didn't do it. For months. The principal did not communicate about it with me, because I asked the teacher in a parent-teacher conference and no one said, "oh no, you can't see the scores." The teacher put it off all year and then when I confronted her, wrote me an email with a half-assed summary--how many points my son had gone up on the test from the beginning to the end of the year. Right? But I hadn't seen the scores at the beginning of the year!

This is why I asked whether anyone else had this experience in the first place. For all I knew, this was a common thing. Now that I have the scores from this past year, I'm wondering whether I have to go through the whole thing again to get his scores on whatever tests they take next year. I think the tests next year are practice for the state test, so they probably won't withhold those. I probably should talk to the parents on the advisory board about this issue, but I hate to do it. 

Originally Posted by kwilki8 

That's a whole other issue, then, and it sounds like it's one that should be addressed at the district level. It doesn't make sense for score reports to go out to some schools and not to yours. While I could see there being some bugs to work out of the communication chain as a school implements a testing program, it's totally wrong for the principal to refuse to release scores. And it doesn't make any sense for the school from a PR perspective--most schools are falling over themselves to show what they are doing to improve students' test scores, it seems. Especially since it sounds like your school is pushing for data-driven instruction (which is a good thing, and what MAP promotes), it seems really odd that the administration at your school hasn't figured out how to share that information.

[captain optimism]

I should also say that the district website has a sentence about teachers sharing MAP scores with students. So they are willing to sometimes share data with my kid but not with me?

[Mizelenius]

I completely agree.  You need to take this one to the next level.  It does not sound like a new teacher will solve this, since it is the principal.

Even though you are not upset that parents are not automatically given the scores, frankly, I am.  There are many parents who would just not know enough to ask, but are entitled to the information since every other parent in the district gets them.

I would play dumb with the district.  I would not sound accusatory, but I would ask if there is a district policy in HOW the results are shared with students.  Make this your starting point. 

And this is coming from someone who does not even "like" standardized tests!
 

Originally Posted by kwilki8 

That's a whole other issue, then, and it sounds like it's one that should be addressed at the district level. It doesn't make sense for score reports to go out to some schools and not to yours. While I could see there being some bugs to work out of the communication chain as a school implements a testing program, it's totally wrong for the principal to refuse to release scores. And it doesn't make any sense for the school from a PR perspective--most schools are falling over themselves to show what they are doing to improve students' test scores, it seems. Especially since it sounds like your school is pushing for data-driven instruction (which is a good thing, and what MAP promotes), it seems really odd that the administration at your school hasn't figured out how to share that information.