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Old 03-05-2010, 04:50 PM
 
Location: In the north country fair
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Eresh View Post
Is the amount of funding received by the school based on students' performance on that test?
Yes. If schools do not reach certain benchmarks in a certain timeframe, then they do not receive funding.
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Old 03-05-2010, 04:55 PM
 
Location: Space Coast
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Quote:
Originally Posted by StarlaJane View Post
Yes. If schools do not reach certain benchmarks in a certain timeframe, then they do not receive funding.
I realize that for public schools.
I was asking about the private school referred to in a prior post.
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Old 03-05-2010, 05:58 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by StarlaJane View Post
(Bolded)
I will also re-assert that ECLB did nothing to enlighten anyone about poor performance in public schools; it merely re-stated that poor performance meant low test scores and sought to ensure that schools with low test scores raise their test scores. However, high test scores are not a valid assessment of a school's performance as they do not account for tangible skills or progress. Furthermore, testing is usually where the struggling schools are struggling to begin with. That's sort of like testing someone on their known weakness rather than on their possible strengths (or not even taking those strengths into account b/c you don't consider their strengths a strength). And then there is the cultural bias of standardized tests...
As I said earlier, many people knew how poorly the schools that kids other than theirs attended. It was when the low test scores of the schools MY kids go to came out that got people riled. High test scores are not a valid assessment? How exactly do you define "tangible skills?" What is a tangible skill, is it what I declare it to be or what you say it is?

We used to be tested a lot while I was in the Army, and yes we wanted to know what weaknesses people in the unit had. This was because it was rather pointless to go around bragging of our great strengths as runners if we were such poor marksmen we didn't possess even a minimal ability to use a rifle to defend ourselves against an attacking enemy (just an example.)

Can you define a culturally biased test?
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Old 03-05-2010, 06:01 PM
 
Location: On a Slow-Sinking Granite Rock Up North
3,638 posts, read 6,147,030 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Charles Wallace View Post
It's not surprising to me. Not any of it.

Frankly, the University of Chicago was on the right track when it essentially eliminated its own college of education as a major because it was academically worthless.

I truly believe that colleges of education do absolutely nothing of value. Should a teacher wish to teach s/he should major in a core discipline (history, English, math, or science) and attend apprenticeships with a trained and seasoned teacher in a variety of settings (inner-city, suburban country-club). Specific workshops on composing lesson plans and classroom management could be added.

And was it not that department of U of C which developed that abomination of a mathematics program i.e. Everyday Mathematics, which I'm convinced after 7 years of observation, is a program that leaves nothing but college remediation in its wake?
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Old 03-05-2010, 06:17 PM
 
Location: Metairie, La.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Minethatbird View Post
Possibly .... why would I fork over $5000 plus per year for DD to attend a school with bad test results when I can get the same thing for free with my local middle school that's been failing NCLB tests on a consistent basis for years?

Why would anyone else?
Let me see if I understand you...your DD's private school receives state money? Is this some kind of "segregation" academy you're talking about?

The Every Child Left Behind Act (ECLB) targets public schools and is based on testing/funding formula. Schools whose students perform poorly don't receive funding at prior levels.

I don't see how this could apply to a private school. I understand some private schools conduct the state testing, but those test scores have no effect on the school's funding...because private schools are funded by private sources rather than state and/or federal sources.

In the early 1970s in the Deep South (and a few states outside of the region), state legislatures passed laws that allowed for some taxpayer dollars to be transferred to certain private schools. These were "segregation" academies or schools that propped up out of nowhere to avoid integration as per federal court order.

I'm quite curious here. Does the private school you're talking about receive state monies?
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Old 03-05-2010, 06:32 PM
 
Location: Metairie, La.
1,156 posts, read 1,795,239 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Minethatbird View Post
Can you define a culturally biased test?
Just a classic example that shows how standardized tests can be "culturally biased":
Q. A sailboat race is commonly referred to as a
A. heat
B. regatta
C. cohort
D. none of the above

The answer is obvious if you're among the people who attend and/or participate in a regatta.

Typically, what kind of people attend/participate in regattas?

This is just one type of question that was thrown out of numerous standardized tests in years past. There are other examples of questions that I'm sure others on here can elucidate much better than I can.

Not only that, but there's a whole host of research out there that clearly shows standardized tests are not indicative of a student's quantitative and qualitative skills. In short, not all bright people will perform well on standardized tests, especially in subject areas in which there are gray areas, or the available answers are "argumentative." Not everything is objective and so therefore should not be tested as if it were.

Case in point, and I know it's just anecdotal, I received a 21 on the ACT (college entrance exam). I double majored in philosophy and history and graduated with a cumulative 3.8 GPA. My GRE scores were horrid (I don't even want to tell you what I scored), but I'm a scholarship recipient, straight-A grad student in history, will receive my M.A. in May, and I've been awarded a fellowship to a prestigious private institution for 2010-2011. And my work did all of this for me rather than some score on some test (i.e. the GRE). In other words, I do competent research and analysis, but I'm not so good with tests where there is one answer per question.
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Old 03-05-2010, 07:18 PM
 
8,857 posts, read 5,336,012 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DiogenesofJackson View Post
Let me see if I understand you...your DD's private school receives state money? Is this some kind of "segregation" academy you're talking about?

The Every Child Left Behind Act (ECLB) targets public schools and is based on testing/funding formula. Schools whose students perform poorly don't receive funding at prior levels.

I don't see how this could apply to a private school. I understand some private schools conduct the state testing, but those test scores have no effect on the school's funding...because private schools are funded by private sources rather than state and/or federal sources.

In the early 1970s in the Deep South (and a few states outside of the region), state legislatures passed laws that allowed for some taxpayer dollars to be transferred to certain private schools. These were "segregation" academies or schools that propped up out of nowhere to avoid integration as per federal court order.

I'm quite curious here. Does the private school you're talking about receive state monies?
Never heard of a segregation academy. DDs private school wouldn't meet the definition anyways.

My sarcasm apparently has caused some confusion. The original question was whether or not the results of the tests affected the amount of funding the school recieved. Nothing was mentioned about state money. I responded that it was not likely I'd fork over $5,000 plus every year for a school that consistently performed poorly on standardized tests, and I suspected most other parents would feel the same way. As the school is funded by the tuition these parents pay then consistently bad test scores surely would affect school funding.

I could just as easily send my DD to the local poorly-performing middle school and keep my $5,000.
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Old 03-05-2010, 07:50 PM
 
Location: Space Coast
1,988 posts, read 5,372,126 times
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Let's keep in mind two things: 1. Tuition monies only account for part of a private school's budget. True, if the school doesn't have a good reputation, then parents will pull their children out of these schools, but $5,000 here and there doesn't make THAT huge of a dent.
2. With NCLB, schools are expected to continually bring up the lower quartile of students' scores. This includes students that are learning disabled, non-English speakers (taking tests written in English), and those of a very low SES background who are more concerned with where their next meal comes from than they are with education. This was the guise under which NCLB was created (to close the achievement gap), and it's the very same reason why more and more data shows that the achievement gap is widening. It's not so difficult to have higher test scores when most of the students come from a middle to upper class background and have parents that can afford to care about the education of their children.
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Old 03-05-2010, 07:57 PM
 
Location: In the north country fair
4,957 posts, read 10,630,252 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Eresh View Post
I realize that for public schools.
I was asking about the private school referred to in a prior post.
Sorry, Eresh--I was just so caught up in the drama of the ECLB debate!

I taught at a private school and we tested once a year as well with the Iowa tests. No, the test results do not determine federal funding.
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Old 03-05-2010, 08:30 PM
 
Location: Metairie, La.
1,156 posts, read 1,795,239 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Minethatbird View Post
Never heard of a segregation academy. DDs private school wouldn't meet the definition anyways.

My sarcasm apparently has caused some confusion. The original question was whether or not the results of the tests affected the amount of funding the school recieved. Nothing was mentioned about state money. I responded that it was not likely I'd fork over $5,000 plus every year for a school that consistently performed poorly on standardized tests, and I suspected most other parents would feel the same way. As the school is funded by the tuition these parents pay then consistently bad test scores surely would affect school funding.

I could just as easily send my DD to the local poorly-performing middle school and keep my $5,000.
Okay, that clears things up. I agree. If I had kids, there's no way in hell they'd step foot in any public school. I'd mortgage the house, or sell my body (if I could) to afford a prestigious private school.

I was fortunate enough to go to a private school...because my parents worked there, not because I was privileged.
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