State politicians and educators are scrambling to cope with the fallout after the abrupt cancelation of an exam by the California Department of Education left over 5,000 high school students across the state — 492 of them in LA Unified –unable to graduate, despite having completed all other necessary course work.

The California High School Exit Exam, known as the CAHSEE, was required for students graduating in 2015 and before. It was meant to test students’ mastery of English and mathematics.

With the introduction of the new Common Core curriculum, the exam no longer tested what students were to have learned, so “the $11 million-a-year contract to administer the test was not renewed, and therefore the July exam was not offered as in past years,” State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson said in a statement.

Unfortunately for those students across California who had counted on taking the July test to graduate, they were left with no possibility of completing their high school graduation requirements. Many had been accepted into colleges but would have been unable to attend because they hadn’t taken the final test.

Politicians piled on to condemn the decision. State Attorney General Kamala Harris was especially harsh.

“As the result of a thoughtless bureaucratic blunder, thousands of high school graduates face the prospect of not being able to enroll in college, serve their country through the military, or pursue other professional goals,” she said in a statement.

Governor Jerry Brown and the president of the state Board of Education, Mike Kirst, issued a joint statement: “Students who have been accepted into college should not be prevented from starting class this fall because of a test cancellation they could not control.”

To fix the problem, state legislators on Monday set to work gutting Senate Bill 725, which originally dealt with visual and performing arts education, and replacing it with language that would exempt the class of 2015 from the requirement to pass the exam.

The bill is expected to be earmarked today and go before the full Assembly for a vote tomorrow, according to the office of Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins, Democrat from San Diego.

Some school districts aren’t waiting for the legislature. In an emergency meeting on Friday, San Francisco’s School Board voted to amend its graduation requirements and grant diplomas to 107 San Francisco high school seniors who hadn’t been able to take the exam.

“This is a decision that’s right for students,” said Superintendent Richard Carranza.

In a conference call with reporters, the association presented data that suggests charters continue to be a valuable option for LA-area parents seeking an alternative to traditional district schools for their children. The association built its case around data provided by the state Department of Education and other sources.

One of the biggest issues addressed was whether the steady loss of students to charter schools puts a drain on LA Unified’s traditional schools, in both numbers and money.

No, said association officials. The CCSA vice president of policy, Colin Miller, said charter school money does not come out of the district’s budget and up to 3 percent of charter schools revenues go back to the district for oversight costs.

“The decline in enrollment at LAUSD is not due to charter schools,” Miller said, alluding to one of the chief reasons district officials cite as a cause of the district’s budget deficit. In the past decade, LAUSD enrollment dropped by 194,251 students and charter school enrollment increased by 106,710 students, according to state figures. He said that leaves 87,541 students  — or 45 percent — of the decline that isn’t accounted for by charter school enrollment.

The association also focused on how more English learner students are enrolling in charter schools in urban areas — and actually thriving in some programs. And, the district is working closer with charter schools in handling more special education students.

Gina Plate, the senior special education advisor for CSSA, said the charter schools do not take away funding from LAUSD’s special ed programs, and although there are more children with special needs in traditional schools (about 1.9 percent more than in traditional district schools), the numbers enrolling in charter schools are increasing.

“Parents (of children with moderate to severe disabilities) are jumping to the charter sector now,” she said, pointing to 20 programs that LAUSD charters schools have in place. “The district is asking if they can buy or reserve seats in some special education charter programs. That’s a great message. We’re working close with the LAUSD.”

Plate added, “There are more children with disabilities going into charter schools than going out of charters.”

Dominic Zarecki, the senior analyst for Achievement and Performance Management at CCSA, said not only do charters schools have more English learners than traditional schools, but they are performing better at charter schools.

He pointed to state data that shows the average Academic Performance Index score for English learners at independent charter schools (748) exceeds that at traditional schools (688).

And Ricardo Soto, CCSA’s senior vice president for Legal Advocacy and General Counsel, said laws governing charters are “quite stringent.” He said that charter schools are held up to greater accountability standards, and the students still must take all the standardized tests.

“The scores for the schools are public and available for parents to see,” he said.

With LA Unified now seeking a new superintendent to work with new board president Steve Zimmer, one of the association’s strongest critics during the campaign for its work to unseat former member, Bennett Kayser, CSAA officials were asked what it would like to see in the next district leader.

“We don’t want him or her to be just for charter or traditional, or pilot or trade schools,” said spokesman Jason Mandell. “We want the new superintendent to fight for all kids. That is our main goal.”

Lovelyn Marquez-Prueher (LAUSD photo)

A middle-school teacher at LA Unified has been named one of five recipients of the 2015 California Teachers of the Year Award from the California Department of Education.

Lovelyn Marquez-Prueher is an eighth-grade English teacher at Dodson Middle School in Rancho Palos Verdes. She has been teaching for 11 years, the last six at Dodson.

Marquez-Prueher was an immigrant child to the U.S and experienced a difficult beginning in school but has embraced the teaching philosophy that learning is a journey, according to a district press release.

“I intend on using what I learn about myself to understand the diversity and culture of every child that walks through my classroom door,” Marquez-Prueher said in a statement. “Through this, I believe that I can ensure that all students learn to function effectively in today’s diverse society.”

Newly-installed interm Superintendent Ramon Cortines offered his praise.

“The award salutes her dedication, passion, and commitment to achieve educational excellence for her students,” Cortines said in a statement.

One of the five winners will be chosen to enter the National Teacher of the Year award, which will be given out by President Obama in April.

“I am thrilled for Ms. Marquez-Prueher, Dodson Middle School, and LAUSD,” said Instructional Area Superintendent-South Robert Bravo in a statement. “I had the pleasure of visiting her classroom with Dodson Principal (John) Vladovic just a few weeks ago and I know first-hand she is a gifted teacher and completely worthy of the recognition.”

John Vladovic is the son of LA Unified board president, Richard Vladovic.

Recent California Teachers of the Year honorees from LAUSD include Veronica Marquez (2012), Jose Navarro (2009), Lewis Chappelear (2008) and Kelly Hanock (2006).

The announcement came from State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson who said, “I applaud these strong, thriving schools that are making such impressive strides in preparing their students for continued success.”

The 2014 California Distinguished Schools Program recognizes schools that have made progress in narrowing the academic achievement gap.

Among the LA Unified schools honored, nine are traditional public schools, another nine are charters, and five are magnet schools.

The full list of distinguished schools can he found here.

As part of the field test, the state will be examining technological capacity and the quality of test questions, while helping students and teachers prepare for next year’s first operational test, said Tom Torlakson, State Superintendent of Public Instruction in a press release.

“Over the next three months, students, teachers, and administrators will gain valuable hands-on experience in a new era of student assessments,” he said. “With more than 3 million students participating, this is the largest field test of its kind in the nation. It is a challenging transformation, but our schools are rising to that challenge with a great sense of excitement and determination.”

The “test of the test,” which runs through June 6, will serve multiple purposes—but mainly to gauge the accuracy and fairness of the test questions ahead of the new assessments that will become operational next year.

Across the nation, more than 20,000 assessment questions and performance tasks will be evaluated to determine which work well and which need to be improved. Test questions are aligned with the Common Core State Standards, adopted by California in 2010, to encourage critical thinking, complex problem solving, and deeper knowledge of subjects.

“I am particularly interested in hearing teachers’ views on the questions and their appropriateness for the students they work with every day,” Torlakson said.

The field test will also take into account computer availability and server capacity while at the same time, allowing teachers to observe their students’ computer skills.

“This field test gives us the opportunity to prepare our students for success,” he added. “The STAR program served us well for years, but the world has changed, and our schools also have to change the way they teach and test their students.”

The field test will cover English-language arts and mathematics for students in grades three through eight and a sampling of students in grades nine and 10.

“Charter School Performance in Los Angeles,” a report from Stanford’s Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO), found that a student in an urban LA charter gains 50 more days of learning in reading and 79 more days of learning in math, compared with a peer in a traditional district school.

In suburban LA charters, the report said a student gains about 65 more days in reading and 101 additional days in math.

The results were especially significant for low-income Hispanic students in charter schools, according to the report’s co-author, Dev Davis.

“The gains for Hispanic students in poverty at charters amount to 58 additional days of learning in reading and 115 more days in math compared to their district school counterparts,” he said in announcing the study.

The report is based on data from 2008-2009 to 2011-2012 from the California Department of Education. Currently, LA Unified has jurisdiction over 248 charter schools  — 52 affiliated and 196 independent — serving over 136,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grade.

In an email to members of the LA Unified board and senior staff at the district, Superintendent John Deasy said of the report: “It is high affirmative of the LAUSD in how we approve, monitor, intervene, and close charter schools. We have the highest performing charter portfolio in the nation.”

Later, in a statement from the district, Deasy said: “Today’s study is another indicator of the amazing results our students, educators, and parents are accomplishing in Los Angeles. The students in both District and charter schools in Los Angeles are achieving at the highest levels in the history of the city.”

Analyzing schools overall, the study found relatively positive developments for charter schools. In reading citywide, 48 percent of charter schools have significantly larger learning gains, compared with traditional alternatives, while 39 percent were judged to have no significant difference and 13 percent of the charters performed significantly worse.

In math, 44 percent did significantly better, 34 percent were about the same as their peer traditional schools and 22 percent of the charters were significantly worse.

Those results compare favorably with CREDO’s 2013 national study of charters, which found that 25 had significantly larger learning gains in reading and 29 percent had them in math. Nineteen percent of charter schools had results that were significantly worse than their district school peers in reading and 31 percent were inferior in math.

* This update expands on Deasy’s comments.

The Kindergarten Readiness Act of 2014, introduced by Darrel Steinberg (D-Sacramento) and co-sponsored by Torlakson and Early Edge California, will expand access to transitional kindergarten programs to all four year old children, no matter when their birthday. Currently, children with birthdays early in the year are excluded.

“It’s impossible to overstate how important these early years are to a child’s future success in school,” Torlakson said in a press release. “Transitional kindergarten—particularly a full-year, full-day program—can make all the difference, especially for families who may be struggling to give their young children these valuable learning opportunities.”

According to the proposal, 46,000 four-year-olds would be added each year for the first five years of the program, which will cost a total of $990 million by 2019-20.

The move to expand early education comes as Governor Jerry Brown announced new spending increases on public education, the result of the state’s first real surplus in years. Details of Brown’s budget for the next fiscal year emerged yesterday.

Previous Posts: High-Quality Pre-K Top Priority for Americans, New Poll Shows; California Awaits Obama’s Pre-K Funding Specifics

Patricia de Cos, Deputy Executive Director of the California State Board of Education, told LA School Report that her office was simply unable to fill out the requisite forms before a deadline.

The Data Quality Campaign, a non-profit funded with foundation support, tracks states’ progress by evaluating their compliance with 10 “Action Steps” of data usage.

In 2011 and 2012, California received positive marks in four of the 10. One required the state to have an agency of data governance; another mandated that the data be made available on a public website. This year, Arkansas and Delaware were the first states to complete all ten steps.

*Clarifies that Patricia de Cos is the Deputy Executive Director of the California State Board of Education.

Since the program was unveiled last October, more than 115,000 “snapshots” of local schools have been downloaded by Californians interested in learning more about a school’s academic performance and demographics, State Schools Chief Torlakson said in a press release.

The data is concisely displayed in two page reports providing information on the school’s California Standards Test (CSTs) scores, enrollment by various subgroups such as race/ethnicity and English language learners (ESL) and the percentage of students that pass the California High School Exit Exams. The reports also offers the percentage of graduates which meet the University of California “a-g” curriculum requirements as well as information on the school’s suspension and expulsion rates.

The information in the snapshot reports was previously compiled on more than a dozen CDE web pages.

Tina Jung, the department spokesperson, said all California public schools are available in the School Quality Snapshot database, even charters, although the reports only reflect information the schools submitted. Jung said this means not all reports will provide the same amount of information.

Jovan Agee

In a sign of its growing presence in California, StudentsFirst, the nationwide education reform organization headed by Michelle Rhee, announced today the hiring of Jovan Agee as the organization’s California State Director.

Agee, who served eight years as the director of political and legislative affairs of UDW/AFSCME Local 3930, a homecare providers union, will be responsible for leading the organization’s California team in its efforts to enact StudentsFirst policy agendas in Sacramento.

In a post on the StudentsFirst blog, Agee wrote, “Some people may find it strange that I am working for StudentsFirst, given my professional background…it may appear that I have ‘switched sides.'”

He added: “I don’t see it that way. As State Director, I will make efforts to work with teachers’ unions, associations representing administrators and school boards. But to be clear: I firmly believe that, at times, what is best for the student may conflict with what ultimately is best for these organizations.”

Agee has also served since 2009 as the Political Committee Chair Northern California for the California Democratic Party’s African American Caucus.

Previous Post: Rhee and Friends Urge Union Teachers to Get Active on Reform

The supports range from digital notepads to test items translated into the student’s native language.

The “Usability, Accessibility, and Accommodations Guidelines” identifies three types of support for meeting the needs of all learners:

Universal tools: Available to all students, they include spellcheck and a digital highlighter. Students can mark or flag items they may want to review later. They can use embedded rulers, protractors and calculators for some math problems. Dictionaries are available for tackling the “real-world” writing assignment called a performance task.

Designated supports: These are available to students including English language learners, struggling readers or students with attention deficits so long as they have been evaluated by educators as needing extra assistance. These supports can include “color contrast” text or blocking distracting content. “Stacked translations” provide a translated test passage above the passage in English.

Accommodations:  These are for students with an Individualized Education Plan (IEP). A deaf student, for example, can watch videos showing a person signing the test content. Closed-captioning is provided for listening items on the English Language Arts test. Blind students will have access to a talking or Braille calculator. Speech-to-text technology allows students to dictate their answers or give voice commands in order to save work or open and close applications.

The use of text-to-speech technology, which will read aloud the printed text, can be used for reading passages. However, the policy states that this accommodation is only appropriate for about 1 or 2 percent of students with disabilities.

“By adopting common universal tools, designated supports, and accommodations, states will be able to provide an assessment that allows all students to demonstrate their knowledge and skills, while ensuring that results are comparable across the Consortium,” Deb Sigman said in a press release. She is the Smarter Balanced Executive Committee Co-Chair and California’s deputy superintendent of public instruction.

Smarter Balanced assessments will be field tested in the spring. The actual tests are expected to roll out in the 2014–2015 school year.

Previous Posts: Testing Bill Taking Shape, Would Suspend API For Two Years, CA Getting ‘Smarter‘ with New Tests to Probe Critical Thinking

In all, 34 states are spending less on K-12 education than before the recession hit, including 13 that have cut per-student spending by more than 10 percent.

Apart from requiring school districts to roll back education services and look elsewhere for funding, the state spending cuts deepened the recession and slowed the pace of economic recovery by reducing the overall number of teachers and other employees, the study said. Further, it said, through last month local school districts had cut a total of 324,000 jobs since 2008, which in turn reduced family purchasing power and overall spending.

The inability of states to undertake critical school reform initiatives, like recruiting better teachers and trimming class sizes, was also cited as having long-term negative consequences for the nation’s economic competitiveness.

Though schools in California have experienced significant improvements in their finances in the past two years due to the passage of Proposition 30 in 2012, many other states continue to be plagued by cuts to their K-12 education funding. In 15 states, per-student funding is lower in the current fiscal year than it was just a year ago, the study said.

Previous Posts: Deasy & Zimmer Praise Prop. 30 Passage, Mixed Reactions to Board-Passed Hiring Proposal, UTLA, LAUSD Prep for Prop. 30 Budget Battle 

The $10.8 million, which will be distributed to school districts, represents nearly a third of the total funding distributed to states under the federal Test Fee Program.

“Every student in California deserves a world-class education, and students who work hard and earn the right to take these advanced tests should never find themselves limited by the fees,” Torlakson said in a press release.

Eligible students will still be required to contribute $5 for each exam taken, with the state paying the remainder of the fees, which total $89 for AP exams and $104 for IB exams.

The money represents $107 million for regular public schools and about $6 million for district charter schools. In addition, independently run charters within LAUSD will receive more than $23 million for the same purpose, but that money flows directly from the state.

The district money is being disbursed in two payments of about $53 million each over this month and next. It represents LA Unified’s share of the $1.25 billion the state has allocated to support teacher training and purchases of new technology and materials before the 2014-15 Common Core deadline.

The California Department of Education allotted the money based on a per-pupil formula of $200 per student. To view the first half of the state allocations, click here, then click on “Schedule of the First Apportionment.”

LA Unified spokesman Tom Waldman said the district has no shortage of uses for the extra funding, given LA Unified’s status as the nation’s second-largest school district after New York City’s.

“Some of the money will go to schools on a per student basis for personal development for teachers, some will pay for learning coaches for students, and some provide summer school in certain schools,” he said.

The amounts received by individual schools will be determined at the next school board meeting on September 10th.

Each school district determines how to use its own share of the state funds.

“The start of a school year is always exciting, but this year is something special,” said Tom Torlakson, the state Superintendent of Public Education said in announcing the distribution. “We’re challenging every part of our education system to remodel itself, and, step by step, give students the tools to achieve their dreams. And after years of cuts and turmoil, we’re finally able to start making the investments necessary to turn those dreams into a reality.”

Previous Posts: Common Core Training Session Draws Overflow Crowd, Torlakson Hosting Roundtable With Focus on Common Core, Ratliff Presiding Over Common Core Technology Session

*This updated version clarifies the allocation of state money to the district.

Several of the brightest, including the highest score for any school in the district as well as the highest scoring middle school, belonged to KIPP (Knowledge is Power Program) charter schools.

It’s welcome news for the San Francisco-based network of schools which is celebrating 10 years of operating campuses in south and east Los Angeles and is expanding to nine campuses this year from seven.

“We’re thrilled about the (API) scores and especially proud of all of our students and teachers,” Marcia Aaron, Education Director for Los Angeles’ KIPP network of schools said. “But we still have some that we’re working on.”

Four of KIPP’s seven schools operating in 2012-13 academic year scored above 900 — that’s well over the state’s 800 API target.  The other three schools scored between 717 and 789:

• The KIPP Empower Academy in south LA, earned a score of 991, making it the highest performing school in LAUSD and the 10th-highest performing school in California.

• KIPP Comienza Community Prep in Huntington Park, scored 979, making it the third highest performing school in LAUSD.

• KIPP Raices Academy in East LA earned an API score of 969, the 6th highest performing school in LAUSD.

• KIPP LA College Prep in Boyle Heights earned a score of 916, down from 925 last year. Still, it was the highest performing middle school in LAUSD for the third year in a row.

While only about half of LA Unified 228 charters met the 800 standard, several factors contribute to the high scores for KIPP. For starters, the charter schools are very small compared with traditional district schools, each founded with only two grades at a time, adding a new grade level each year.

Empower Academy, for example, served only K-2 students.

KIPP schools also practice extended learning days. The average school day lasts nine hours, and students attend two-weeks of summer school every year.

For the KIPP schools that didn’t reach 800, Aaron says the staff is “doubling down” on providing teachers with extra professional development support. They’re also planning for more academic intervention for 5th graders across all campuses.

“The concepts that are taught in higher grades are far more complex and they require more complex teaching,” she said.

As children get older the differential between students at the low end and the high end increases.

“In middle school we will have students whose scores will range from Kindergarten to 8th or 9th grade in different subjects,” Aaron said. “Our typical incoming 5th grader is performing below our exiting 2nd graders.”

But as KIPP elementary schools matriculate 4th graders, whose average API scores is a 983, and funnel them into network middle schools, Aaron says she expects to see more gains.

Still, API scores are not the endgame, she said.

“At KIPP we’re all about college so it’s a long way before they receive their college degree,” she said. “There’s still lots of work left to do.”

Previous Posts: API Tests for LA Unified Improve Slightly, State Scores Fall, LA Unified Schools Top Lists of California’s Best Charters, By the Numbers: Charter School Waitlist Exceeds 15,000

CDE Press, the publishing arm of the California Department of Education, is offering print versions of the California Common Core State Standards: English Language Arts and Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science and Technical Subjects and California Common Core State Standards: Mathematics. Previously, the documents were available only online.

Torlakson also released a short video explaining in plain language the importance of the transition.

“These standards are the blueprints for remodeling our education system, laying out step-by-step what students need to know and be able to do to graduate ready to start a career or go to college,” Torlakson said in a press release. “And if we’re updating how and what we teach students, then we have to update the way we test as well.”

Standards define the knowledge, concepts, and skills students should acquire at each grade level. The Common Core standards are designed so that all students—no matter where they come from or where they live—receive a world-class education that is consistent from school to school, and graduate ready to contribute to the future of the state and the country, the release said.

The publications are available for purchase, with the prices set to offset printing and shipping costs. Details on how to order them, including sales tax and shipping and handling fees, are available on the CDE Press’ Catalog Listings of Publications or by calling toll-free, 1-800-995-4099.

Previous Posts: Torlakson Hosting Roundtable With Focus on Common Core, Curious About the New Common Core Test? Practice Here

Tom Torlakson

Three days after the Obama administration warned that thousands of low-income California children would be shut out of federally funded Head Start preschool programs, the California Department of Education announced today distribution of $25 million in state “restoration” funds.

The state money is intended to salvage preschool services as part of the California State Preschool Program, which has suffered budget cuts of $122 million in recent years, the department said in a press release. California child development programs overall have been cut by around $1 billion dollars over the same period, the release said.

“Everything from the economic downturn to federal sequestration has hit some of our most vulnerable families undeniably hard in recent years,” California State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson, said in the release. “Our hope is that these funds can begin to remove some of the obstacles working families face by opening doors to high-quality preschools that might otherwise have been shut.”

In Part One of a two-part interview, LA School Report contributor Vanessa Romo talks with Deasy about his relationship with teachers, the challenges of pioneering the new Common Core curriculum and the possibility that district-wide test scores might fall this year.

Q: Despite the upward trend of metrics that suggest the district is making progress – rising API scores, increasing graduation rates, and a significant reduction in suspension rates – the vast majority of respondents* to a teachers’ union survey found your performance either “below average” or “poor”, especially when it comes to morale and spending money. How do you answer your critics?

A: I can make no sense of it whatsoever. I have a fantastic relationship with the teachers of this district. Our teachers are doing a phenomenal job. I’ve been calling on the Board to give teachers and all employees a raise. I admire them, and I’m not confused about my mission, which is to lift youth out of poverty.

If you want to get technical about it, I don’t spend money. I make recommendations, and the [school] board decides. So since my recommendation is that 96 cents of every dollar go to schools, I don’t even know how to respond to that statement. I’m looking for partners to do this work with the teachers union leadership. I would love to have a partner to advance this work and recognize great teaching.

(*About 27 percent of the union’s 32,000 members participated in the survey.)

Q: In a speech at the teachers’ union leadership conference, UTLA President Warren Fletcher said you have conducted a “witch hunt” on teachers, and that Los Angeles “has become the teacher dismissal capital of California. While LAUSD employs about 10 percent of the state’s teachers, the district accounts for nearly 40 percent of California’s teacher dismissal cases.” Are you on a witch hunt?

A: Of course not. The board recommends to dismiss teachers when they harm children. Like when they sleep with a child or do drugs with a child or strike a child or steal money from the system; that’s when people get dismissed. I think those are morally obligatory reasons to have no one working with a child.

I don’t criticize the union, and I don’t criticize their leadership. I think the record is explicitly clear, I’ve never actually had a criticism out loud of Warren Fletcher.  But I certainly hope he wants to be a partner for the new $30 million in federal money to honor classroom practice that’s in Race to the Top. I hope they don’t leave that money on the table again.

Q: California’s Department of Education has yet to develop materials to support the new common core guidelines. In fact, state lawmakers suspended textbook adoptions until a year after students take the first mandated test under Common Core standards. How do you prepare students for a test without textbooks?

A: We can’t wait for the state. We actually have to provide for our teachers already and that’s what we’ve been rolling out this summer. There are curriculum materials for every single grade in the subject in the common core in every classroom developed by our teachers. We just launched digital texts for English language arts K-12 that was developed for LAUSD, and all of the training being done by our own teachers. We call them Common Core Fellows. We are absolutely prepared for the new school year.

Q: Leaders of the California Teachers Association and American Federation of Teachers have asked the U.S. Dept. of Education to temporarily suspend penalties on schools that score poorly on tests until teachers and students can “master this new approach.” Do you agree that a moratorium is necessary?

A: We’re making one of the biggest adjustments ever in education. People have been trying to make the case that teachers need time to train, and that’s absolutely true. I think the use of the test and accountability systems, [those] merit real pause as we learn to teach in a new way, and I’d like that to be two to three years.  But I don’t think we should have a moratorium on tests to let us know how students are doing.

Q: Do you have a strategy for managing the public-relations problem or morale problem that could arise when scores on the new tests look worse than those on the state’s current tests?

A: Test scores are going to change completely because it’s an entirely different system. You actually can’t compare California Standardized Tests to Smarter Balance. The scores themselves will be very, very different and what you’re doing is setting a new baseline. If you think that at one point you were at 80 percent, and now you’re 40 percent, so, therefore, it’s plummeting morale, it’s quite the opposite.

We were talking about this the whole week with Principal groups. People who care so much about this profession, their anxiety is up, and what we wanted to say is: Use the time to really focus on leading improvement of practice. Stop being so concerned about results until we actually learn how to do this.

Part Two of the interview appears tomorrow.

 Previous Posts: Defiant Deasy Says He’ll Push Targeted Spending Plan Anyway, Deasy Skirmish With Board Members a Long Time Coming, Board Members Ask Deasy To Explain Himself

In a news release, they identified two schools — Alexander Hamilton Senior High and Alliance Cindy and Bill Simon Technology Academy High – where the postings showed legible test questions or answers, raising the possibility of cheating.

Overall, state officials ilisted 242 schools where social media posts came during testing, including 16 with visible test items. In large measure, they said, the posts involved students posing with the covers of test booklets or with materials that were not legible and in no case were test results affected.

In 2012, the state found social media postings in 216 schools during testing, with posts from 12 schools that included legible test questions or answers.

“We take the validity and reliability of our assessments very seriously, and our schools do too, which is why we redoubled our efforts to monitor these postings and alerted school districts when they occurred,” said Deputy Superintendent Deb Sigman, who oversees assessments and accountability issues for the state Department of Education. “These postings look to be attempts by students to gain attention among their friends, not an effort to gain an advantage on a test.

Though the implications for accountability have not yet been determined, in general, if a security breach affects less than 5 percent of the number of students tested, the school is ineligible for academic awards. If the breach affects more than 5 percent of the number of students tested, the school’s API—the state’s measure of accountability—could be invalidated.

Previous posts: California Could Face Year With No Meaningful Testing Data; Slim Gains, Slight Drop in English for LA Unified in CA Test Scores; California’s 2013 Testing Results to be Released Thursday

Arne Duncan’s Letter Rejecting California’s NCLB Waiver Request