Morgan Hill Unified School District showed a slight decline in state student test scores this year and maintained a cavernous achievement gap between Hispanic students and their classmates based on the 2017 Smarter Balanced Assessment Results released last week.
However, one local school district official thinks there is something seriously wrong with the state’s testing system, and claims the scores are inaccurate. Glen Webb, MHUSD’s Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment, said he has “concerns over the functionality of the tests” and that a nationwide trend in which the same exams are given proves his point.
“The decline in SBAC scores across the nation is statistically improbable, and should be a red flag to all districts,” Webb said in a MHUSD press release titled “…Test Scores Marred by Questions of Test Functionality” dated Sept. 27. “It suggests that the measurement tool (the SBAC test itself) is not functioning properly.”
His argument relies on his own analysis of test scores across several states that use either the SBAC or another similar testing system. Webb posed questions from his findings to education assessment experts who supported further analysis of the SBAC tests.
State Superintendent Tom Torlakson described the latest tests as “far more rigorous and realistic than the previous paper and pencil tests.”
“We are asking more of our students, but for a good reason—so they are better prepared for the world of college and careers,” Torlakson said in the California Department of Education’s press release. The state did not respond to Webb’s claims when asked about them specifically.
MHUSD produces subpar scores
In Morgan Hill, the SBAC results revealed half the students in MHUSD schools, grades third through eighth and 11th, have either met or exceeded state standards in English Language Arts/Literacy (ELA). In mathematics, nearly 40 percent of the same crop of MHUSD students met or exceeded state standards while 60 percent did not meet or nearly met that subject’s requirements.
Meanwhile, the achievement rate in both ELA and math was significantly higher among Ann Sobrato High School 11th graders who are now in their senior years. Nearly three-quarters of Sobrato students tested last year (73.69 percent) met or exceeded ELA standards while almost 50 percent met or exceeded math standards to surpass the district-wide results.
At Live Oak High School, last year’s 11th graders eclipsed the district totals in ELA with more than 56 percent meeting or exceeding standards. But the same could not be said in math, where just over 31 percent met or exceeded standards.
MHUSD’s overall scores in ELA and math, which can be viewed on the California Department of Education website (cde.ca.gov), dropped slightly from the previous year’s 52 percent at or above in ELA, and 41 percent at or above in math.
As for countywide results, 62 percent of students met or exceeded the ELA standards compared to 49 percent of students statewide. In math, 55 percent of county students met or exceeded the standards compared to 38 percent of students statewide.
When asked about the validity of the 2017 results, County Office of Education Superintendent Jon Gundry didn’t go as far Webb in challenging their accuracy in his emailed statement to the Times.
“It is the understanding of the Department of Assessment and Accountability at the Santa Clara County Office of Education that while the California Department of Education does not suspect that there are technical issues with the current scoring, a technical advisory committee will investigate the scores at an October Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium Conference,” Gundry said.
Achievement gap persists
Always on educators’ radar is the achievement gap on state standardized tests between “Hispanic or Latino” students compared to their “White” and “Asian” counterparts. As for the 2016-17 scores, that achievement gap remains glaring in districts throughout the state, according to state data.
In Morgan Hill schools, about 34 percent of all Hispanic students tested met or exceeded ELA standards compared to nearly 67 percent among White students and 80 percent among Asian students. In math, 23 percent of Hispanic students met or exceeded standards compared to nearly 57 among White students and nearly 74 percent among Asian students.
Looking at the same comparisons in countywide results: In ELA, 37 percent of Hispanic students met or exceeded standards, compared to 76 percent among White students and 83 percent among Asian students. In math, 26 percent of Hispanic students met or exceeded, compared to 69 percent among White students and 83 percent among Asian students.
Webb questions these results too, contending that data such as this needs to be broken down even further with factors such as parent education level and socioeconomic status to get a true reading of how the district is serving the different ethnic groups. The state’s online database allows users to isolate the test scores using varying factors.
“Fortunately for MHUSD students, we don’t rely solely on the SBAC as the only assessment for student achievement,” the district’s press release states. “Using a variety of academic and social-emotional tests, we are able to better assess individual student needs and provide multi-tier programs and enrichments that better support their needs.”
What are these state tests?
The California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress Online Tests are now in their third year of existence since replacing the former Standardized Testing and Reporting program that included the Academic Performance Index or API. The computer-based tests use California’s challenging academic standards and ask students to write clearly, think critically and solve complex problems, just as they will need to do in college and 21st century careers.
“CAASPP results will show their greater value with time. The numbers will eventually allow us to track student progress and development over time, and the more data received, the greater understanding we will have,” said Gundry in an earlier Sept. 27 press release.
CAASPP includes a number of assessments, but the most widely given are the Smarter Balanced Summative Assessments, which evaluate student progress on the California standards in Mathematics and English Language Arts/Literacy, often referred to as the Common Core.
The CAASPP tests for English Language Arts/Literacy and mathematics were given to students in grades three through eight and grade eleven. Ninth and 10th graders are not given the CAASPP exams. They consist of two parts. First, there is an adaptive test taken on a computer that gives students different follow-up questions based on their answers, thereby providing a more refined picture of a student’s abilities. Second, there is a performance task that challenges students to apply their knowledge and skills to real-world problems. The two parts measure depth of understanding, writing, research and problem-solving skills.
