In the last decade, "proficiency" has entered the mainstream lexicon as a measure of how good the education system is, in particular how good a school is. When pressed, most people may define proficiency as the number of students who pass the test divided by the number of students who take the test. What may not be fully understood yet is that the measure of proficiency for any group of students is largely determined by the choices a state makes in creating their assessment standards. The purpose of this exhibit is to demonstrate some of the limitations of using proficiency rates to make judgments about educational effectiveness. You can see the full report by clicking here.
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I am acquainted with the differences though the work of NWEA as I have worked with NWEA and state assessment data in the state of Michigan since 2003 and have presented on differences in the midwest by citing the NWEA to State Assessments linking reports that NWEA has release in the past several years. The actions of NCLB has been a severe detriment to educational progress in the united states. I am thankful that I am an NWEA school district that has demonstrated significant growth over the years and also have progressed with the state assessment. Now in Michigna they are going to correct this by re-calibrating the MEAP to college readiness and from what I see it aligns the difficulty levels. Thanks for your work.
This data confirms what we have believed all along.
1. We get what we expect
2. Lower standards will only make data look good as long as it
is not compared to anything else.
3. Oregon has a long way to go
4. Using NWEA MAP testing to drive instruction was a good decision for us.