Good-bye, Tests! Don’t Let the Door Hit You On the Way Out!
Sayonara, test score mania! Well, for two years, anyway. The state of California has just suspended the calculation of API scores until 2016—an index of performance based on multiple choice state tests in every subject for every grade–in order to give schools time to gear up for the Common Core tests that are still under construction. As far as I’m concerned, that suspension is cause for celebration. I know, I know, all over the state, people are freaking out because they believe this suspension of scores will leave schools in low-income communities free to go down the toilet for two full years while corrupt administrators and bad teachers merrily cash paychecks, accountable to no one. Here’s why I think that logic is wrong—and why I believe this temporary suspension is a great opportunity to create a better system.
First of all, over a decade of API scores doesn’t seem to have done much to stop corrupt administrators and bad teachers. The schools that were terrible before we started testing are still terrible. Where schools were declared failing and taken over by the Partnership for L.A. Schools or other charter management systems, results have been underwhelming no matter who is in charge. I have heard not a single story of a miracle takeover, but have heard many stories of schools that are as bad as before. In any case, test scores are not the best measure of whether these takeovers have been successful;