Louisiana Skipped Key Standardized Testing Analysis In 2009-2010, Cites Budget Woes

The Washington Independent:

The Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE) did not conduct an erasure analysis of the state's standardized test scores for the 2009-2010 academic year due to budget cuts, The American Independent has learned through Freedom Of Information Act requests.

While the key monitoring tool was dropped for the 2009-2010 school year, the documents from LDOE also show a host of measures -- on-site visits and mandatory internal investigations -- were taken to monitor schools during the spring and summer high-stakes testing season for academic years 2007-2008, 2008-2009 and 2009-2010.

Read the whole story: The Washington Independent

Comments

[El Chingaso]

03:37 AM on 08/16/2011

Well, thank goodness Louisiana doesn't matter...in the greater context.

[Angie Sullivan]

04:10 AM on 08/14/2011

Guess that is one way to "improve" test scores.

Don't get me wrong . . . I think the tests are from the devil. But are we really surprised that people don't want to fail OR that the testing is just too expensive? We are building huge databases full of failing kids. . .

Maybe we should use the money for INSTRUCTION. We are going to continue to see an increase in this type of thing because it's expensive and it's silly.

[fredpa]

07:21 AM on 08/13/2011

Someone should file a FOI act request to see just what the dollar amount was for erasure analysis. Generally, it is something that is part of a report, the same as right answer-wrong answer, p-value, bi-serial, and dif scores. It would probably cost more in programming to get it out.

[Michael Zinshteyn]

02:08 PM on 08/13/2011

In the article I included a price tag of some 58k that the state saved--according to public records.

[fredpa]

04:06 PM on 08/13/2011

I know that was what was reported, but I don't believe it. That's why there should be a FOI inquiry. I've worked on close to 100 testing contracts, and I've never seen that as an add on. It's always a given in the contract proposal.

[navigio]

04:14 PM on 08/13/2011

Hi Michael. Info in the article implies that the state spends between $6 and $8 per student per year to administer these tests. I have see examples from other states that imply it can cost as little as a half to a third of that elsewhere. Any explanation for that discrepancy?

[Candide33]

08:13 PM on 08/12/2011

Of course they have no money... they threw it all away on corrupt 'For Profit' charter school staff....

[MardiGrasGirl]

09:54 PM on 08/12/2011

You are totally right. The corruption here is deeper than what they are saying. I don't think they want to test for erasures because there is a lot of cheating going on in this town. New Orleans is supposed to be the pilot for the rest of the country and they don't want to show anything but success.

Go and google Abramson Science and Technology Charter. It will blow your mind. This is what happens when you let these "For Profit" people come in without accountability.

[maxfax]

10:20 PM on 08/12/2011

For profit education, the GOP dream, an American nightmare.

[Candide33]

07:51 AM on 08/13/2011

A large number of those people took the money and ran too... they got their money for the first year of the charter then returned the charter but kept the money.

I know of one for sure that was arrested for embezzlement of charter funds but there may be more.

The test scores that they actually counted were just as bad and sometimes worse than the public school scores!

I haven't seen the report on Abramson Science and Technology Charter in particular but I have seen enough of the horror stories to know that New Orleans Charter schools are a failure.