IN THIS
ISSUE:
STATE
OFFICIALS WILL CONSIDER PLANS TO REVAMP
"MAP" TESTING STANDARDS
State education officials will consider a proposal this
month to revise the standards used with the Missouri Assessment Program
(MAP)
tests, the state's required exams for public schools.
Under recommendations developed recently by committees of
Missouri educators and citizens, more students would be likely to score
at the
"proficient" or "advanced" levels in mathematics and
reading/communication
arts when school districts administer the expanded MAP exams next
spring.
When it meets in mid-January, the State Board of
Education is expected to consider the recommendations and make a
decision about
new "achievement levels" for the MAP exams, including the definition
of "proficient" for each subject and grade.
Agreeing on the definition of "proficient" is
likely to be the most controversial part of the plan. Since the first
MAP exams
became mandatory in 1998, some educators have complained that the
state's
definition is too demanding.
"We are approaching an important milestone in the
MAP testing program because of the introduction of new grade-level
tests in 2006.
The current MAP standards were set nearly 10 years ago, so this is a
good time
for us to revisit and review those expectations," said Commissioner of
Education D. Kent King.
He went on to say, "We also are required, under
state law, to make sure that Missouri standards do not exceed those
used on the
National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) tests. We must set
new
criteria to match the grade-level tests, and we need to make some
adjustments
so that our state tests align more closely with the national exams."
But King emphasized that he does not support dramatic
changes to the state's academic standards.
"Some of the current MAP standards are unrealistically
high, and we are ready to address that concern. However, I will not ask
the
State Board of Education to reduce expectations just to cause an
increase in the
number of kids who are proficient.
"Our challenge is to find the appropriate balance.
We want to establish standards that are right for kids, realistic, and
will
help us keep pushing for higher student achievement."
King believes that making the transition to an expanded
testing program with revised standards is complicated, but it should
produce
some benefits for teachers and schools.
"Setting cut scores that reflect comparable levels of
achievement
from one grade to the next is challenging, but it should help teachers
evaluate
students' learning and plan their instruction more effectively as
students
progress from grade to grade," he said.
The definition of proficiency in the MAP system is
critical because federal law (No Child Left Behind) requires all
children to be
proficient in reading and math by 2014. Public schools that do not make
satisfactory progress toward this goal face penalties. The federal law
also
allows each state to set its own definitions of proficiency.
Earlier this month (Dec. 7-9), more than 100 educators
and citizens met with state education officials to hammer out proposed
changes
in the MAP standards.
In the current system, student achievement on the MAP is broken
down into five categories: Step 1 (lowest), Progressing, Nearing
Proficient,
Proficient, and Advanced. Beginning next year, however, the state will
adopt a
four-level system that matches the categories used by the National
Assessment
of Educational Progress: Below Basic, Basic, Proficient, and Advanced.
This change is being made in response to a state law
enacted last year (2004). The law requires the MAP exams to be aligned
more
closely with the NAEP.
In the past, Missouri's MAP scores have been similar to
results on the NAEP exams in most cases, but with some notable
exceptions. For
example:
- On
the MAP exams this year, about 35% of Missouri third graders scored at
the proficient or advanced levels on
the communication arts test. On the 2005 NAEP exams, 33% of Missouri
fourth
graders were proficient or advanced. This comparison involves different
groups
of students, but the similarity of the results suggests that the state
standards and NAEP standards are fairly comparable.
- In the eighth grade
this year, only 15% of Missouri students were proficient or advanced in
math,
according to the MAP exams. On the NAEP tests, however, about 26% of
Missouri eighth
graders were proficient or advanced. This example suggests that the
state's
standards are higher than the NAEP.
Under the proposals adopted by the advisory committees,
the MAP achievement levels would be set so that, initially, about 30%
to 35% of
Missouri students would be expected to score at the proficient level in
each of
the seven grades tested. About 10% to 12% would be expected to score at
the
advanced level in all subjects and grades.
These recommendations would be likely to produce scores
that are more consistent across subjects and grades and more in line
with NAEP
results. The proposed cut-off scores for each level are based on the
results of
field-test editions of the new MAP tests that were given last spring by
schools
throughout the state.
Currently, the MAP exams are required in grades 4, 8, and
10 (math) and grades 3, 7, and 11 (reading/communication arts). Beginning in 2006, though,
the MAP exams
for both subjects will be given to all students in grades 3-8. Math
will be
tested again in grade 10 and reading in grade 11. The MAP tests for
science and
social studies will continue to be available in their present format
for
voluntary use by school districts.
The expansion of the state's testing program in grades
3-8 is required by the federal law, No Child Left Behind.
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MISSOURI YOUTH SERVICES: A
MODEL FOR ALL
by Marian Wright Edelman
The criminalization of our children has reached a
dangerous increase. Researchers and practitioners prefer mentoring,
tutoring,
gang prevention, substance abuse programs, dropout reduction, community
service, nurse visitation initiatives, and quality after-school and
summer
programs, as well as jobs. These are among the right preventive
investments in
our nation's youth. Since 2001, however, the Bush administration has
proposed a
reduction in funds of nearly 66 percent for federal youth prevention
and
intervention programs. Actual funding has dropped more than 40 percent,
with
additional cuts being considered for next year—a reckless
budgetary
decimation of the programs and services that help keep children out of
trouble and
on the right path. If we know what works, how can we allow the
government to
ignore the immediate needs of children, particularly poor and minority
children?
Eliminating youth services condemns us to much more pain
in the long run in terms of our criminal justice system, incarceration,
and
other public costs. Conservative estimates place the total savings of
diverting
one child from a lifetime of crime at about $1.5 million. Most
importantly,
that child has the opportunity to succeed in life—an
opportunity that is
each person's God-given right. There are models for how we can do this
for more
of our nation's children. The state of Missouri's approach is one.
Experts praise Missouri's Division of Youth Services as a
"guiding light." They credit Mark Steward, the division's recently
retired
director, with building and sustaining the country's finest state
juvenile
corrections system. Dubbed the "Missouri model" by reformers in other
states, it emphasizes rehabilitating young offenders in homey,
small-group
settings that incorporate constant therapy and positive peer pressure
under the
direct guidance of well-trained counselors.
When a young person commits a crime, judges generally reserve
commitment to a Division of Youth Services residential facility for
only the
toughest of cases—about 1,300 each year. For most youths,
"aftercare" consists of a prolonged relationship with a case manager.
Many youths are also assigned a "tracker"—often college
students, or sometimes residents of the youth's home
community—who
monitor their progress. Missouri also operates eleven nonresidential
"day
treatment" centers year-round during school hours, and these facilities
offer a way station for teens after leaving a residential facility.
How do we know Missouri's approach is working? A
long-term recidivism study showed that only eight percent of youths
released in
1999 were incarcerated in youth or adult corrections three years later.
Another
19 percent were sentenced to adult probation. This means that nearly
three-fourths of these youths avoided prison or probation for at least
three
years. Comparatively, Missouri's results are remarkable.
Besides the obvious future savings that accompany its low
recidivism rates, the Missouri model is also substantially cheaper than
many of
its counterparts around the country. In 2004, Missouri's Division of
Youth
Services devoted nine of every ten dollars in its budget to treatment
services.
The state's annual cost per bed in a residential treatment facility
ranged from
$41,400 to $55,000, while Maryland spent $64,000 per bed in 2003, and
California, $71,000. Even worse, far more young people in Maryland and
California
end up in prison as adults, proving that those states pay twice as much
for
inferior treatment.
So if successful models like Missouri's exist, why isn't
the entire nation following them? We know what works to keep our
children safe
and out of trouble. But will we provide the support for all at-risk
children? Our children deserve the chance to survive
and thrive and to be protected from the prison pipeline that steals too
many
young dreams.
Marian Wright Edelman is president and founder of the
Children's Defense Fund and its Action Council, whose mission is to
Leave No
Child Behind and to ensure every child a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a
Fair
Start, a Safe Start, and a Moral Start in life and successful passage
to
adulthood with the help of caring families and communities.
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FREE
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Queue
Inc.
1 Controls Drive
Shelton, Ct. 06484
(800) 232-2224
Fax (800) 775-2729
Email jdk@queueinc.com