Given
reports today of more errors in this week's 4th grade and 8th
grade NYS math exams (see below), added to the absurd passage and questions on
the 8th grade ELA exam, now known as Pineapplegate, we say three strikes
and you’re out. Pearson should be made to forfeit their $32 million
contract.
If
our children make errors on these high-stakes exams, this will have negative
consequences for them, as well as for their teachers and schools. So why should
Pearson, which had nearly $2 billion in profits last year, be left off the hook
for their sloppy mistakes? Where's the accountability for them? Leave a comment about what you think about
this.
Message
from NYSED to NYS principals last night:
Re 4th grade math: “Question 58
on all test forms has two correct answers. If during this test any student asks
about Question 58, proctors may advise the student that there are two correct
answers to this question.”
And re 8th grade math: “Due to a
typographical error, there is no correct answer to Question 13 on this test
form. Proctors may tell students before the test begins that there is no
correct answer for this question and students should mark any answer to this
question on their answer sheets. Because it is an embedded field test question,
Question 13 does not count toward students’ scores.”
Does that mean that #58 is void or that either of the two answers will be counted as correct?
ReplyDeleteAnd what of the time wasted on one of these botched questions that might pull a diligent student's score lower on other questions?
ReplyDeleteAfter all, time management, is a key tactical aspect of test taking.
If indeed the section is timed, scrap the entire section, I say.
How can there be two possible correct answers on a MATH question !?!
ReplyDelete1+1 no longer equals 2 uniquely?
Thank you ed deformers!
Who is holding Pearson Publishing accountable for their lack of paying attention to details?
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't be surprised if there are more errors and they were not found yet.
NYSED needs to rescind on this contract deal ASAP. The blunders are making the state look EXTREMELY BAD!
Dear parents,
ReplyDeleteThese exams have had ambiguous and unanswerable questions for years. If you feel teacher evaluation data should be made public, please also demand that these tests be made public.
For the 4th grade test proctors are being told to advise students only if the students ask about the question. However, students are taught NOT to ask questions during the test. Instead they will most likely spend too much time on a question that
ReplyDeleteshouldn't even be on the test and wonder what they are doing wrong! This is disgusting!
Teachers have no voice with this administration, parents must begin taking action.
I think the public school system is being set up for the privatization of the system! The NCLB and the Race to the Top are just plans to privatize public schools I see this happening in 5years or more. Teachers will be hired on a short-term basis. Principals will be replaced by school managers. Pensions will be no more. Mark my words.
ReplyDeleteWhen We the People who send our sexually created children to out Public Schools made it legal for US judicial policy to purposely make erroneous factual findings and misapplication of a properly stated rule of law judicial errors (See US Supreme Court Rule 10)to acquit the wrongdoer as Justice, then, it is also equally legal for Pearson to make billions making such wrongs. It's the law. Thanks to the law. It's the world's best legal system to acquit, even reward, the wrongdoers to make it all legal. KEKSI
ReplyDeleteI see it now,Child who is a fabulous math student and has done fantastically all their school life is now in the forth grade. They spend an enormous amount of time trying to figure out the correct answer to a question that has two correct answers. Thus the child does not finish the test,scores far below what they should,teacher is put on probation for getting low test scores and Mayor Bloomberg tells us what a great job he is doing in improving our school system.The test first mentality is destroying our children and we must band together to do something about it now.
ReplyDeleteWe should hold Commissioner King and his followers responsible.I guess Pearson and the SED leadership are not "Career Ready".They have made these plans and have not done proper proof reading to make sure that everything is correct. I thought that they should be trained to read and and evaluate informational text. Perhaps they should study the "Shifts"
ReplyDeleteI'd like to reiterate what "Anonymous" posted above. For YEARS these students have been told they may not talk to their teachers during the tests. This mentality has been drilled into children and teachers alike. A former colleague of mine was grilled by her administration because she picked a child's pencil off the floor and returned it to him during a test.
ReplyDeleteHow does that history create an environment in which students will raise their hands to tell the teacher that the almighty test makers made a mistake?
It doesn't. As a result, students will become confused (and likely choose some other answer on the grounds that those two mean the same so they can't be correct), will lose valuable time trying to figure it out, and will lose what confidence hasn't been sapped by field test questions on material they are not supposed to have been taught (and yes, there were some of those on Day 1).
The 6th grade math test had questions that were clearly not in the curriculum. Even if these questions were "field test" questions that won't count in a student's score, students spent too much time trying to find an answer. Six days of ELA and Math testing is just ridiculous. How can student learn an entire year of Math curriculum and prepare for a test by April. What happens for the next 9 weeks of school?
ReplyDeleteMy school uses Pearsons Envision Math Program and I can't say I am suprised. We have renamed the program Confusions Math. When did mathematical equations become "sentences"? Why are we studying what "doubles" are? Who cares what a double is?!? An even more useless concept is a "near double". I agree a foundational vocabulary is necessary for intelligently discussing mathematics, but some of these concepts are completely pointless and a waste of effort. I'd rather he were doing some rote memorization of math tables - an underrated learning tool - than memorizing the definition of a near double.
ReplyDeleteFrom my daughter's definitions via enVision we learn "Whole Add 2 parts to make the whole". At least make the definitions accurate if they are being taught to the students. Whole is a relative term; two (2) parts do not always make a whole. What about 2+1+3=6? Is that a whole and a half? Wow, fuzzy math at work.
And this estimation thing...that should come after a good firm grasp of the essentials. I estimate every day, and it's an extremely useful ability. My ability comes from understanding how to perform the basic mathematics and, more importantly, from having had lots of PRACTICE doing it.
I understand different students learn in different ways. However, I believe that can be accommodated without the "fuzziness" and useless concepts that seem a part this math program. Let's apply a little common sense to the curriculum.
The sad part is that these children are going to school to learn however, it's the parents that have to reteach them the math because Envisions is too confusing. Children need to learn basic math before introducing them to advanced concepts. What a waste of money.
32 million dollars to create a test that does not measure what is in the curriculum and give a huge blow to my special ed kids self esteem. Really an 8th grader is supposed to figure out the √2 without a calculator? As restitution, Pearson should share the 32 million with all the students they frustrated and made weep during today's test.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter is an honor student in Long Island. She is a teacher's dream,doing more then ever required. Her grades are excellent and she is in every club available. Yesterday she cam home hysterical because she felt she did not do well on the exam and had let her teacher down.This is the part that our test maniacs don't care about,THE HARMFUL EFFECT THE PRESSURE THESE STUPID TESTS PUT ON OUR CHILDREN!!
ReplyDeleteNot only is there a mistake on the 8th Gtade Math Test but the Chinese conversions of the same test have translation errors as well. One in Book 1 and one in Book 2....something needs to be done...
ReplyDeleteThere were also sixth grade questions on the fifth grade test.
ReplyDeleteHow can we find out if this another mistake by Pearson that will be counted against our kids or if these are field test questions?
As a parent, grandparent, and retired educator I call on NYSED to throw out the ridiculous set of tests that are supposed to judge not only our students but also their teachers.
ReplyDeleteTests are only valuable if a curriculum has been established. Even then a test is just one part of learning whether a student has learned. As far as I know teachers had not received any curricula on which these tests were to be based.
This entire testing regime, Common Core State Standards, Gates, Duncan, Obummer, even the Biden family all are just thieves. Cui bono? Ain't the students or ths country. It's ALL SIC!
ReplyDelete