2010 DC CAS Scores Online

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's important to understand that AYP is a moving target. The percentage of students that need to be proficient in reading and math increases every year. Eventually, if NCLB isn't revised or discarded, nearly every school in the U.S. will fail to meet AYP, because, despite what you hear about Lake Wobegon, there is no school where all of the children are above average.

They don't have to be above average to meet AYP. Proficiency means meeting the minimum requirements for math and reading at grade level. I don't think it's outrageous to require schools to prove their students are on grade level. Social promotion has left too many 9th graders reading on the 2nd grade level. And then we wonder why they drop out of school after repeating the 9th grade 3 times. If you catch it early in the 3rd grade you won't end up with a drop out in the 9th!

I thought "Basic" was meeting the minimum requirements. Is that not so?

Advanced means indepth understanding of academic knowledge and skills (highest level of achievement).
Proficient means competency in academic knowledge and skills (where a student should be)
Basic means some academic knowledge and skill (suggests in need of academic assistance)
Below Basic means very limited academic knowledge and skill (suggests in need of substantial academic assistance).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's important to understand that AYP is a moving target. The percentage of students that need to be proficient in reading and math increases every year. Eventually, if NCLB isn't revised or discarded, nearly every school in the U.S. will fail to meet AYP, because, despite what you hear about Lake Wobegon, there is no school where all of the children are above average.

They don't have to be above average to meet AYP. Proficiency means meeting the minimum requirements for math and reading at grade level. I don't think it's outrageous to require schools to prove their students are on grade level. Social promotion has left too many 9th graders reading on the 2nd grade level. And then we wonder why they drop out of school after repeating the 9th grade 3 times. If you catch it early in the 3rd grade you won't end up with a drop out in the 9th!

I thought "Basic" was meeting the minimum requirements. Is that not so?

Advanced means indepth understanding of academic knowledge and skills (highest level of achievement).
Proficient means competency in academic knowledge and skills (where a student should be)
Basic means some academic knowledge and skill (suggests in need of academic assistance)
Below Basic means very limited academic knowledge and skill (suggests in need of substantial academic assistance).

So, in other words, "Basic" is a deceptive euphemism? The word itself suggest rudimentary but satisfactory knowledge of the material, like "meets expectations." In reality it's beneath the acceptable body of knowledge, which would be defined as "Proficient." Do I have this right?

[Anonymous]

Yes proficient is the acceptable body of knowledge - that is where students need to be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's important to understand that AYP is a moving target. The percentage of students that need to be proficient in reading and math increases every year. Eventually, if NCLB isn't revised or discarded, nearly every school in the U.S. will fail to meet AYP, because, despite what you hear about Lake Wobegon, there is no school where all of the children are above average.

They don't have to be above average to meet AYP. Proficiency means meeting the minimum requirements for math and reading at grade level. I don't think it's outrageous to require schools to prove their students are on grade level. Social promotion has left too many 9th graders reading on the 2nd grade level. And then we wonder why they drop out of school after repeating the 9th grade 3 times. If you catch it early in the 3rd grade you won't end up with a drop out in the 9th!

I thought "Basic" was meeting the minimum requirements. Is that not so?

Advanced means indepth understanding of academic knowledge and skills (highest level of achievement).
Proficient means competency in academic knowledge and skills (where a student should be)
Basic means some academic knowledge and skill (suggests in need of academic assistance)
Below Basic means very limited academic knowledge and skill (suggests in need of substantial academic assistance).

Actually, these are pretty arbitrary labels. They are attached to cut scores on standardized tests. These cut scores can be adjusted from year to year. So the difference between Basic and Proficient for a specific student can be one test item.

[Anonymous]

Did you ask to see your child's DC-BAS when the teacher was reviewing it in class (I mean the actual test booklets which the teacher can hold onto as study aids). These tests are not brain surgery, which is why on the one hand it is SAD when a school is on the teens on proficient. On the other hand, they are pretty crudely designed, boring, blunt instruments--often with horribly worded questions. Some of my brightest (and I mean bright!) students who thought 'outside' the box did far worse than my more literal students who quickly figured out what the test-taker was angling for and supplied it. I taught my students 'test taking literacy' --a good skill for life--rather than teaching to the DC-CAS test. STILL, this is a blunt instrument people--NOT a good way to make fine distinctions in your child's skill levels or to assess whether your child is receiving differentiated instruction in the classroom. Better questions to ask yourself are: does my child want to go to school? How does the classroom 'feel' when I pop in? What kinds of ongoing instruction, assessments and feedback am I observing? Do I see innovation coupled with rigor? Activities? Is my child making connections between what they are learning (the subjects) and the outside world? Gut feelings about the overall package? Use the DC-CAs as a guideline for digging deeper if your child or school's results really surprise you, but I would not hang my coat on splitting the difference between advanced and proficient from year to year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: I can do without your sarcasm because this issue is extremely serious. But our goal for all students should be to get to perform on grade level. Some will definitely need accomodations to get to there. Just because a child learns differently or comes from a lower social/economic background doesn't mean we should give up on their potential. Way too many people use a child's disability or social/economic background as an excuse for why they don't achieve instead of trying to find innovative ways overcome thier barriers. We fail a child when we can't get them to grade level.

OK, that's a nice goal. But is it reasonable, given what we know about human beings? I'm not suggesting that we give up on any student's potential, but, if a student comes into a class 2-3 years below grade level, do you think it's reasonable to expect that they will "grow" by more than one grade level per year?

For that matter, if the student is 2-3 years below grade level, would our current standardized assessments be able to measure growth for that particular student?

Are you a parent, educator, advocate or what? Clearly, you've accepted the NCLB rhetoric, but do you have experience to back up your convictions? Have you taught any students that are 2-3 years below grade level? Have you used any of these "innovative ways to overcome barriers"? Accommodations are fine, but I've never witnessed the use of accommodations to accelerate the learning of a student who is several years below grade level. Have you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did you ask to see your child's DC-BAS when the teacher was reviewing it in class (I mean the actual test booklets which the teacher can hold onto as study aids). These tests are not brain surgery, which is why on the one hand it is SAD when a school is on the teens on proficient. On the other hand, they are pretty crudely designed, boring, blunt instruments--often with horribly worded questions. Some of my brightest (and I mean bright!) students who thought 'outside' the box did far worse than my more literal students who quickly figured out what the test-taker was angling for and supplied it. I taught my students 'test taking literacy' --a good skill for life--rather than teaching to the DC-CAS test. STILL, this is a blunt instrument people--NOT a good way to make fine distinctions in your child's skill levels or to assess whether your child is receiving differentiated instruction in the classroom. Better questions to ask yourself are: does my child want to go to school? How does the classroom 'feel' when I pop in? What kinds of ongoing instruction, assessments and feedback am I observing? Do I see innovation coupled with rigor? Activities? Is my child making connections between what they are learning (the subjects) and the outside world? Gut feelings about the overall package? Use the DC-CAs as a guideline for digging deeper if your child or school's results really surprise you, but I would not hang my coat on splitting the difference between advanced and proficient from year to year.

Thank you SO much for this!!!! Good reminder for this new to DCPS parent of what I should really be focused on. (As opposed to DCUM babble about Tiers, "best" lists, JKLM , "top" charters, etc etc etc.) Maybe these could be used as part of IMPACT.

[Anonymous]

A couple more questions to ask:

• Is there a balance between skill and content?

• Is the content interesting, specific, and engaging?

• What kind of resources are being used? Is it all workbooks and basal readers, or are other materials being used, i.e. trade books, novels, etc.

• Does the teacher do read-aloud every day (important for developing oral language and background knowledge)

• Do students have a chance to explore and read books that they choose from a well-stocked classroom library

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A couple more questions to ask:

• Is there a balance between skill and content?

• Is the content interesting, specific, and engaging?

• What kind of resources are being used? Is it all workbooks and basal readers, or are other materials being used, i.e. trade books, novels, etc.

• Does the teacher do read-aloud every day (important for developing oral language and background knowledge)

• Do students have a chance to explore and read books that they choose from a well-stocked classroom library

Yes! And sadly, though these are widely acknowledged best practice, when I taught in DCPS we basically had to run our reader's / writer's workshop on the lam. Central admin's anxiety levels go through the roof if you stray from the basal readers--the sort of paint by numbers approach where they know the kids will be getting all the elements of literacy every day (but in such a stunted fashion!). Has Rhee brought in good research based PD on best practices since I left that train teachers in the above, provides materials (classroom libraries!) and then give them the blessing to go forward? I only overlapped her for a year and recall the heavy pushing of the basal readers at the literacy training I attended. Again, the best schools do it on the lam from my experience with the principal running interference.

She has spent SO MUCH money. I wish we would see some of the above sweeping like a river through all our schools....not just JKLM.

[Anonymous]

This is the sad part about Rhee. I don't think she has any expertise in the actual nuts and bolts of curriculum and instruction. For her, it's all about data, compliance, and accountability.

Look at the way she used the literacy coaches. All they did last year was run around with their palm pilots checking on whether teachers completed their DIBELS/BURST on schedule.

All of the so-called professional development we did last year had to do with IMPACT. None of it actually dealt with remediating or accelerating student learning.

The other pattern I've noticed is the rapid adoption and abandonment of expensive commercial "programs" of dubious utility, especially expensive computer-based programs like Accelerated Math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is the sad part about Rhee. I don't think she has any expertise in the actual nuts and bolts of curriculum and instruction. For her, it's all about data, compliance, and accountability.

Look at the way she used the literacy coaches. All they did last year was run around with their palm pilots checking on whether teachers completed their DIBELS/BURST on schedule.

All of the so-called professional development we did last year had to do with IMPACT. None of it actually dealt with remediating or accelerating student learning.

The other pattern I've noticed is the rapid adoption and abandonment of expensive commercial "programs" of dubious utility, especially expensive computer-based programs like Accelerated Math.

That's really sad PP. A true literacy coach can be such a great asset (if they are willing to help shape programs/model lessons/assess students in a fine-grained way, coach teachers sensitively--not just pop in and critique/'backseat drive' for five minutes). I can't say I'm surprised that they were assigned to be the 'hall monitors' of DIBELS, but what a waste of any expertise they might offer.

[Anonymous]

Anyone know why there are no scores posted for Yu Ying? Or am I somehow missing them?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone know why there are no scores posted for Yu Ying? Or am I somehow missing them?

DC-CAS testing starts in 3rd grade.

[Anonymous]

15:51 you mentioned Accelerated Math. The teachers at my daughter's school liked it so much that the Parents actually paid for it out our own pocket when it was dropped frankly our scores have not moved either direction and don't reflect well on the school. You seem to have some insight on it, is it worth parents paying for it to continue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone know why there are no scores posted for Yu Ying? Or am I somehow missing them?

This fall is the first time Yu Ying will have 3rd graders, so there hasn't been anyone to take the test. Still, the true measure of the school will be in a couple of years when the first class of entering Pre-K students takes the test. They're the ones that will have had Yu Ying's instruction for their entire academic career (to date).