THE FOLLY OF RANKING SCHOOLS BASED ON TEST SCORES ALONE
Down at the Capitol, we sometimes hear from legislators about how schools are measuring up, using SBAC or SAT or even IRI scores. Recently, we heard that the Boise District had several "low-scoring" schools on the 2017 SBAC.
As the research has shown, results on assessments such as the SBAC correlate highly with poverty. In fact, one study showed that scores could be predicted accurately by rank ordering schools based on poverty.
So, what of the claims about "lowest-scoring" schools? Are they true? If so, what factors are involved?
We looked at the 10 lowest scoring schools on the 3rd grade SBAC in Reading and Math. Then we threw a bunch of them out because they were too small to yield reliable results. That's one problem with school rankings in Idaho - many of the schools are so small that the results may change dramatically even in one year.
For example, Stone Elementary School , just north of the Utah border in Oneida County District, had the lowest average 3rd grade Reading SBAC score in the state. There are only 8 students in the school, which serves students in grades k-3. Almo Elementary, just north of the City of Rocks National Reserve in Cassia County, had the second-lowest average score. Almo had 12 students in 2017. You can see why their scores might be variable from year to year. Other schools that are not included because of small N include Meadows Valley, Grandview, Swan Valley, Lowman, Three Creek, and Arbon.
After purging the results from the smallest schools, we came up with lists of "low scorers", and looked at the characteristics of the schools. Here they are:
What do most of these schools have in common? Well, almost all have high percentages of low-income students, high percentages of Limited English students, or both.
Students from low-income backgrounds can and do learn in school. Oftentimes, though, they enter school with a language deficit, and don't have some of the opportunities that help develop background knowledge essential for understanding complex concepts. For example, many of our low-income students may not have had the enrichment opportunities that other students have, so when a test question asks about golf greens or the Grand Canyon, they may not have a frame of reference for fully understanding the question. That's one of the reasons why the District offers opportunities like field trips and summer reading programs that build background knowledge, and it's a great argument for pre-k programs like we have at Whitney and Hawthorne.
Moreover, most of the schools on the list have high percentages of students with limited English skills. Locally, Jefferson, Taft and Garfield have large populations of refugee students, who typically will take up to seven years to fully learn the oral and written English language and its abstractions (e.g., similes, metaphors, idioms, symbolism, etc.). These students are from many different countries, and they have provided a richness of diversity that has changed the culture of our schools for the better.
The fact is that very small percentages of Limited English students in Idaho pass the SBAC in either Math (19% at 3rd grade) or ELA (16%). The percentage is even smaller in Boise, where half of our LEP students are refugees. However, we expect that these students will continue to learn the language and will become contributing citizens in Boise.
We'd match the instruction taking place in these schools with any in the state. Each has caring, compassionate staffs who go the extra mile for kids every day and provide excellent instruction. To label them as anything but successful is simply unfair. In fact, if you read this blog and are interested, contact us and we will be happy to take you on a tour of any of our schools.
Will the students in these schools show growth? Absolutely. However, it's a fair question as to whether the SBAC can measure that growth, since average scores last year declined in all 14 of the SBAC Consortium states.
So, how about the characteristics of the highest scoring schools?
Well, that was predictable. None of the highest scoring schools had enough LEP students to report (the Idaho elementary average was 6%). All had relatively small percentages of low-income students (the Idaho elementary average was 54%). Collister also houses the Boise District's highly gifted (HG) program, and Sorenson is a Magnet school in Coeur d'Alene.
Now, we have excellent staffs at each of these schools, as well. We also have many supportive parents who devote hours of their time supporting their children and the schools. Further, the children have conversational and intellectual opportunities at home and in travel that give them a leg up on school readiness.
All of this goes to show that it's much more complicated than simply putting together a low-to-high list of school test scores and making a judgement. Many factors come into play when considering school quality. Whether your school is Jefferson or Roosevelt or Garfield or Collister, West or South or Fairmont or North, Borah or Capital or Boise or Timberline, your children will get a great education in the Boise School District.
Students from low-income backgrounds can and do learn in school. Oftentimes, though, they enter school with a language deficit, and don't have some of the opportunities that help develop background knowledge essential for understanding complex concepts. For example, many of our low-income students may not have had the enrichment opportunities that other students have, so when a test question asks about golf greens or the Grand Canyon, they may not have a frame of reference for fully understanding the question. That's one of the reasons why the District offers opportunities like field trips and summer reading programs that build background knowledge, and it's a great argument for pre-k programs like we have at Whitney and Hawthorne.
Moreover, most of the schools on the list have high percentages of students with limited English skills. Locally, Jefferson, Taft and Garfield have large populations of refugee students, who typically will take up to seven years to fully learn the oral and written English language and its abstractions (e.g., similes, metaphors, idioms, symbolism, etc.). These students are from many different countries, and they have provided a richness of diversity that has changed the culture of our schools for the better.
The fact is that very small percentages of Limited English students in Idaho pass the SBAC in either Math (19% at 3rd grade) or ELA (16%). The percentage is even smaller in Boise, where half of our LEP students are refugees. However, we expect that these students will continue to learn the language and will become contributing citizens in Boise.
We'd match the instruction taking place in these schools with any in the state. Each has caring, compassionate staffs who go the extra mile for kids every day and provide excellent instruction. To label them as anything but successful is simply unfair. In fact, if you read this blog and are interested, contact us and we will be happy to take you on a tour of any of our schools.
Will the students in these schools show growth? Absolutely. However, it's a fair question as to whether the SBAC can measure that growth, since average scores last year declined in all 14 of the SBAC Consortium states.
So, how about the characteristics of the highest scoring schools?
Well, that was predictable. None of the highest scoring schools had enough LEP students to report (the Idaho elementary average was 6%). All had relatively small percentages of low-income students (the Idaho elementary average was 54%). Collister also houses the Boise District's highly gifted (HG) program, and Sorenson is a Magnet school in Coeur d'Alene.
Now, we have excellent staffs at each of these schools, as well. We also have many supportive parents who devote hours of their time supporting their children and the schools. Further, the children have conversational and intellectual opportunities at home and in travel that give them a leg up on school readiness.
All of this goes to show that it's much more complicated than simply putting together a low-to-high list of school test scores and making a judgement. Many factors come into play when considering school quality. Whether your school is Jefferson or Roosevelt or Garfield or Collister, West or South or Fairmont or North, Borah or Capital or Boise or Timberline, your children will get a great education in the Boise School District.
