tag:theconversation.com,2011:/ca/topics/test-scores-14417/articlesTest scores – The Conversation2023-08-30T12:16:25Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2116592023-08-30T12:16:25Z2023-08-30T12:16:25ZYear-round school: Difference-maker or waste of time?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/544849/original/file-20230826-23-6c5aya.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=10%2C43%2C7178%2C4613&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Not much evidence shows that modified school calendars lead to better academic performance.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/children-in-classroom-royalty-free-image/1271533302?phrase=school+classroom+&adppopup=true">Johner Images via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Contrary to how it sounds, “year-round” school usually doesn’t mean students going to school throughout the year – or for more days than other students. Often it just means switching up the calendar so that there’s not such a long summer break. Below, two education experts – <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Nicole-Miller-10">Nicole Miller</a> and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=EzLkaxMAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">Daniel H. Robinson</a> – answer five questions about the modified school calendars known as year-round school.</em></p>
<h2>What kinds of year-round schools exist?</h2>
<p>The first is the <a href="https://www.sreb.org/sites/main/files/file-attachments/10s03_focus_school_cal_0.pdf?1459971827">“single-track”</a> modified calendar, also known as a “balanced calendar.” The second is the “<a href="https://www.sreb.org/sites/main/files/file-attachments/10s03_focus_school_cal_0.pdf?1459971827">multi-track calendar</a>.” Neither one is typically an extended year. Instead, both calendars involve moving the 180 school days around so that there are multiple short breaks as opposed to the typical long summer break.</p>
<p>Single-track calendars have all students following the same schedule. This balanced calendar often includes intersessions that provide additional opportunities for learning rather than “summer school.” With a multiple-track calendar, usually created to alleviate school overcrowding, some students are on campus while others are on break. </p>
<p>Balanced calendars often take the form of 45 school days followed by 15 days of break, or 60 school days followed by 20 days of break. Other kinds of modified calendars with shorter intersessions exist in states like <a href="https://www.starkvillesd.com/academic-calendar/index">Mississippi</a> and <a href="https://ed.sc.gov/data/other/school-calendars/2023-2024-composite-school-calendar/">South Carolina</a>.</p>
<h2>How prevalent is year-round school?</h2>
<p>Federal data shows year-round school has been <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/ntps/tables/ntps1718_20050401_s1n.asp">fading in popularity over the past decade or so</a>. In the 2007-2008 school year, 4.4% of schools were on a year-round cycle. By the 2017-2018 school year, that figure had dropped to 2.5%.</p>
<p>However, since the pandemic, there have been signs of renewed interest in single-track year-round calendars, at least in the Southeast.</p>
<p>For instance, in 2020, Louisiana modified its school statute to <a href="https://go.boarddocs.com/la/bese/Board.nsf/files/BUCTNV783CA6/$file/AGII_BalancedCalendarPP_1020.pdf">allow for more flexible calendars</a>. In Mississippi, a <a href="https://www.wlbt.com/2023/07/19/more-mississippi-school-districts-shifting-modified-school-calendars/">significant number of schools shifted</a> to a modified year-round calendar, with 29 of 137 districts using such a calendar in the 2023-2024 school year. In <a href="https://www.shawlocal.com/opinion/editorials/2022/08/15/schools-are-testing-out-year-round-calendar-but-benefits-not-guaranteed/">South Carolina</a>, as of 2022, <a href="https://ed.sc.gov/data/other/school-calendars/2023-2024-composite-school-calendar/">a quarter of school districts had shifted</a> to a modified year-round calendar. These modified calendars typically consist of nine weeks of school with a 5-to-8-day intersession, followed by another nine weeks of school each semester. </p>
<h2>Is there any evidence that it works?</h2>
<p>That depends on what you mean by “works.” If it means <a href="http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED330040.pdf">saving money</a> by avoiding having to add buildings, then it is possible for a school that normally serves 750 students to serve 1,000 when going to a year-round, multiple-track schedule. This is because the schedule has different students taking breaks at different times.</p>
<p>But if “works” means an improvement in student achievement, then there is <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.3102/00346543073001001?casa_token=6--3kEaZuX4AAAAA:LxKN9ObE12LlHNHvDO1DCAGb3csZRiOYbP8g_mSsZ6wM9P0O6WmhI8yeAeMw55CyJ50wGrOhcePd">insufficient data</a> to answer that question, especially for single-track calendars. One review found <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cl2.1053">modestly higher student achievement</a> for year-round compared with traditional calendar schooling, but it was also plagued with what we believe were poor studies on which to base conclusions.</p>
<h2>What are the potential drawbacks?</h2>
<p>There are several challenges involved with switching to a year-round calendar. One is changing child care systems to work with the new calendar. Another is securing funding to provide meaningful learning experiences over the various breaks. Also, problems can arise if a family has children on different calendars.</p>
<p>There are also concerns about how high school students <a href="https://www.publicschoolreview.com/blog/year-round-or-traditional-schedule">have less time for summer jobs</a> and for students to participate in traditional summer activities such as summer camps.</p>
<p>Then there’s the issue of standardized tests. If schools take longer breaks, it could mean fewer days in school prior to test day. </p>
<p>Depending on the type of year-round calendar, changes can <a href="https://www.techlearning.com/news/year-round-schools-5-things-to-know">affect sports</a>, particularly practice schedules and game schedules. It can also be a problem if members of the same team are on different tracks.</p>
<p>Also, some schools <a href="https://www.techlearning.com/news/year-round-schools-5-things-to-know">may not have adequate air conditioning</a> to be open in the hot summer months.</p>
<p>Multi-track calendars might also <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/3497042.pdf">negatively affect efforts to keep teachers</a> from leaving the job.</p>
<h2>What are the potential gains?</h2>
<p>Based on prior research investigating learning schedules, a schedule that distributes instruction and practice <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED536925.pdf">more evenly over the calendar year</a> should result in better learning. </p>
<p>By having shorter breaks, there could be less learning loss from the extended break over the summers.</p>
<p>Finally, some school districts are hoping for a <a href="https://www.wlbt.com/2023/07/19/more-mississippi-school-districts-shifting-modified-school-calendars/">reduction in teacher turnover</a> by having more frequent breaks. There is some, but not extensive, evidence that modified year-round school does a better job of giving teachers a chance to recharge and come back to the classroom after each break feeling refreshed.</p>
<p>One study found that teachers perceived that they had <a href="https://www.ascd.org/el/articles/teacher-job-satisfaction-in-a-year-round-school">greater motivation to teach</a> and that <a href="https://aquila.usm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1211&context=dissertations">student achievement was also positively impacted</a> when teaching in schools with modified year-round schedules.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/211659/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Two education researchers reviewed the evidence on year-round school. Here is what they found.Daniel H. Robinson, Associate Dean of Research, College of Education, University of Texas at ArlingtonNicole Miller, Associate Professor of Elementary and Middle School Education, Mississippi State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2049972023-05-11T12:14:41Z2023-05-11T12:14:41Z4 factors that contributed to the record low history scores for US eighth graders<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525369/original/file-20230510-19-7yw6ka.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=38%2C22%2C5074%2C3372&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Test scores for history began their decline about a decade ago.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/students-taking-notes-in-class-royalty-free-image/186366114?phrase=middle+school++class&adppopup=true">Don Mason via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/">national student test scores</a> revealed recently that knowledge of U.S. history and civics had reached an <a href="https://www.axios.com/2023/05/03/history-civic-test-results-covid-schools">all-time low</a>, one Republican lawmaker described the drop as an “<a href="https://edworkforce.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=409118">outright failure that should concern every parent across the country</a>.”</p>
<p>The test scores showed that <a href="https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/highlights/ushistory/2022/">86%</a> of America’s eighth graders were not proficient in U.S. history, and <a href="https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/highlights/civics/2022/">79%</a> were not proficient in civics.</p>
<p>While one top U.S. education official described the scores as “<a href="https://www.the74million.org/article/report-card-naep-eighth-graders-civics-history-declines/">alarming</a>,” the official rightly pointed out that the decline actually began nearly a decade ago. </p>
<p>In my view as a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=CiW8RcIAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">historian of education reform and policy</a>, the latest history and civics test scores were a predictable outcome. While it is difficult to establish an exact cause of the decline, here are four factors that I believe contributed to it.</p>
<h2>1. Pandemic fears of learning loss</h2>
<p>When students gradually began to return to their physical school buildings after they were closed when the COVID-19 pandemic began, <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.2022376118">researchers</a>, <a href="https://edworkforce.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=408583">politicians</a> and <a href="https://www.momsforliberty.org/news/fox-news-cheryl-loudoun-va/">critics of teachers unions</a> began to worry about <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/28/briefing/pandemic-learning-loss.html">learning loss in math and reading</a>.</p>
<p>Historically, when there are worries about test scores in core subjects like reading and math, other subjects <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED536512">become less of a priority</a>. This deemphasis on subjects beyond reading and math has taken place before. Specifically, after the Bush-era policy <a href="https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/infocus/bushrecord/factsheets/No-Child-Left-Behind.html#:%7E:text=In%202002%2C%20President%20Bush%20signed,Left%20Behind%20Act%20(NCLB).">No Child Left Behind became the law of the land</a> in 2002, teachers reported that the emphasis on testing <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00377996.2011.571567">took away time and resources for social studies</a>. They also say it <a href="https://doi.org/10.3200/AEPR.109.4.3-12">threatened arts education</a>, which has been shown to <a href="https://www.usnews.com/education/k12/articles/the-benefits-of-arts-education-for-k-12-students">benefit children’s overall academic, emotional and social well-being</a>.</p>
<h2>2. The politicization of social studies education</h2>
<p>At the same time that many education experts were worried about learning loss in reading and math, conservative politicians were working incessantly to <a href="https://theconversation.com/efforts-to-ban-critical-race-theory-have-been-put-forth-in-all-but-one-state-and-many-threaten-schools-with-a-loss-of-funds-200816">limit what can be taught in social studies</a>.</p>
<p>In one of his first acts as governor, Virginia’s Glenn Youngkin, for example, <a href="https://www.wtkr.com/news/gov-youngkin-creates-tip-line-to-report-concerns-such-as-violation-of-parents-fundamental-rights-in-schools">set up an anonymous tip line</a> for parents to report teachers who taught “<a href="https://www.wtkr.com/news/local-educators-parents-react-to-gov-youngkins-ban-of-critical-race-theory">divisive concepts</a>,” such as <a href="https://www.lawinsider.com/dictionary/divisive-concepts">the notion that the U.S. is “fundamentally racist or sexist</a>” or that a person from a particular race or sex bears responsibility for past actions committed by other members of the same race or sex. The tip line has since been <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/11/05/1134514204/a-tip-line-championed-by-virginia-gov-youngkin-last-year-has-been-quietly-shut-d">quietly shut down</a>.</p>
<p>Across the country, state legislatures led by conservative politicians have adopted bills banning instruction about aspects of U.S. history that could, they believe, make white children feel “<a href="https://kfor.com/news/local/author-of-oklahoma-house-bill-1775-says-history-can-still-be-taught-in-class/">discomfort</a>” or “<a href="https://time.com/6168753/florida-stop-woke-law/">guilt</a>.”</p>
<p>All of this has created an atmosphere of <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2022/02/14/critical-race-theory-teachers-fear-laws/">fear</a> for the nation’s teachers, who remain largely unsure of what they can and cannot teach. For some teachers, this political context has led them to <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/article/book-banning-curriculum-restrictions-and-the-politicization-of-u-s-schools/">self-censor and limit</a> what they teach about American history, potentially depriving students of a richer understanding of the nation’s politics and policy. </p>
<h2>3. Education budget cuts</h2>
<p>Although research has long shown that <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/2019/8/13/21055545/4-new-studies-bolster-the-case-more-money-for-schools-helps-low-income-students">funding matters for student achievement</a>, many school districts around the country are currently <a href="https://www.epi.org/publication/public-education-funding-in-the-us-needs-an-overhaul/">struggling</a> for <a href="https://richmond.com/news/local/education/nearly-2-3-of-virginia-schools-had-not-returned-to-pre-recession-levels-of-per/article_b63fbaae-c77f-5e7d-911e-468e100bbedc.html#tncms-source=login">adequate resources</a>.</p>
<p>The pandemic has amplified <a href="https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2021/07/how-covid-taught-america-about-inequity-in-education/">existing racial and economic disparities</a> – and recent national test scores in history and civics are an extension of those disparities. Not only were the average scores on U.S. history tests lower for Black students than white ones, but the decline from 2018 scores to 2022 was 42% greater for <a href="https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/ushistory/results/groups/">Black students</a>. Black students collectively lost 4.5 points, or 1.8% of their average scores, from 2018 to 2022, versus 3.5 points, or 1.29%, for white students.</p>
<p>And the situation was even more stark for <a href="https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/ushistory/results/groups/">low-income kids</a>. Compared with 2018, children who are eligible for free or reduced lunch – a standard measure of poverty – saw their scores drop more than twice as much as they did for their higher-income peers who did not qualify for the program. Specifically, they lost five points – going from 250.5 in 2018 to 245.5 in 2022, versus just two points for those who do not qualify for free and reduced lunch, who saw their scores drop from 274 to 272 between 2018 and 2022.</p>
<h2>4. Teacher shortages</h2>
<p>Mounting job stress and the <a href="https://www.rutgersuniversitypress.org/blaming-teachers/9781978808423">blaming of teachers</a> have led many educators to leave schools altogether, generating widespread <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2021/11/18/todays-teacher-shortages-are-part-longer-pattern/">teacher shortages</a>.</p>
<p>Among teachers who left the profession in 2022, a <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/education/our-insights/k-12-teachers-are-quitting-what-would-make-them-stay">record high 64% quit</a>, as opposed to being laid off or fired, leaving district and state leaders scrambling to <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2022/01/america-desperate-substitute-teachers/621379/">lower requirements for substitutes</a> in an effort to find adequate classroom support. Evidence suggests that <a href="https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/0002828041302244">experienced</a>, <a href="https://epaa.asu.edu/index.php/epaa/article/view/392">professionally trained</a> teachers are critical for students’ academic achievement. With that in mind, low test scores in history and civics begin to make more sense.</p>
<h2>Keys to improvement</h2>
<p>What American kids know – or don’t – about the nation’s history and civics is a reflection not of the kids, but of the political and economic circumstances that affect their schools.</p>
<p>The factors that support student learning – <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/2022/8/25/23318969/school-funding-inequality-child-poverty-covid-relief">funding</a>, <a href="https://www.educationnext.org/in-schools-teacher-quality-matters-most-coleman/">qualified teachers</a> and <a href="https://www.the74million.org/article/for-students-to-succeed-put-high-quality-curriculum-in-teachers-hands/">high-quality curricula</a> – are well known. In my view, if history and civics scores are to improve, then what is needed is more funding for public schools, more support for professional teachers and the freeing up of educators from policies shaped by contentious political debates about what they can and can’t teach about U.S. history in America’s classrooms.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204997/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Diana D'Amico Pawlewicz has received funding from the Spencer Foundation. </span></em></p>A historian of education policy says the dramatic drop in history test scores among the nation’s eighth graders was a predictable result.Diana D'Amico Pawlewicz, Associate Professor of Education Research & Director, I-REEED, University of North DakotaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1880502022-10-14T12:17:06Z2022-10-14T12:17:06ZDoes tutoring work? An education economist examines the evidence on whether it’s effective<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/489239/original/file-20221011-11-b2kzti.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C27%2C3639%2C2395&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Tutoring works best when it's built into the school day.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/teacher-reading-with-a-student-royalty-free-image/642634764?phrase=tutoring&adppopup=true">FatCamera via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>With reading and math scores <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/09/01/1120510251/reading-math-test-scores-pandemic">plummeting during the pandemic</a>, educators and parents are now turning their attention to how kids can catch up. In the following Q&A, <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=RUtLWRcAAAAJ&hl=en">Susanna Loeb</a>, an education economist at Brown University, shines a light on the best ways to use tutoring to help students get back on track.</em></p>
<h2>1. How much money is spent on tutoring in the US each year?</h2>
<p>Billions of dollars are spent each year on tutoring in the U.S. This was true <a href="https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/private-tutoring-market-104753">even before the pandemic</a>.</p>
<p>The private tutoring market – made up largely of <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/many-parents-want-it-few-can-afford-it-amid-school-n1233977">parents who can afford to hire tutors</a> for their children – was <a href="https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2021/07/15/2263310/0/en/Global-Private-Tutoring-Market-to-Reach-201-8-Billion-by-206.html">estimated at US$24.9 billion</a> in 2021.</p>
<p>With <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/06/22/1105970186/pandemic-learning-loss-findings">many students struggling</a> as a result of <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/children8121134">disruptions from the pandemic</a>, spending on tutoring is <a href="https://www.reportlinker.com/p05377685/Private-Tutoring-Market-in-the-US.html">expected to grow</a>. Much of this growth will be driven by wealthy families who <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/wealthy-families-stick-with-full-time-tutors-hired-early-in-pandemic-11662543002">hired tutors during the pandemic and plan to keep them</a>. This extra help is <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0276562412000054?via%3Dihub">likely to worsen the gaps</a> in academic achievement between students from upper-middle-class families and those from families who are poor.</p>
<p>School districts also invest in tutoring for their students. This means special sessions outside of their regular classes. Many districts, such as <a href="https://catalog.results4america.org/case-studies/high-dosage-tutoring-chicago">Chicago Public Schools</a> and those partnering with <a href="https://readingandmath.org/programs/reading-corps/">Reading Corps</a>, <a href="https://www.aarp.org/experience-corps/">Experience Corps</a> and others, provided tutoring before the pandemic. With new funding through the <a href="https://oese.ed.gov/offices/education-stabilization-fund/elementary-secondary-school-emergency-relief-fund/">Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund</a>, district investment in tutoring is also growing. Of the <a href="https://www.ncsl.org/ncsl-in-dc/standing-committees/education/cares-act-elementary-and-secondary-school-emergency-relief-fund-tracker.aspx">nearly $200 billion</a> in these emergency relief funds available, $22 billion must be spent to help kids catch up using interventions that are proved to work. High-impact tutoring qualifies as one of those interventions.</p>
<h2>2. What kind of difference does it make?</h2>
<p>It depends, because not all of the approaches are effective.</p>
<p>During the era of No Child Left Behind – the federal education law that sought to get <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2014/10/11/354931351/it-s-2014-all-children-are-supposed-to-be-proficient-under-federal-law">all children proficient in reading and math</a> by the year 2014 – parents of children in failing schools could sign them up for tutoring outside of school <a href="https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-06-758">at the school district’s expense</a>.</p>
<p>But it didn’t really work. Research shows that <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED508259">only 23% of eligible students</a> participated. And for those students, the average effect was <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED508259">close to zero</a>. When the Elementary and Secondary Education Act replaced No Child Left Behind in 2015, it <a href="https://studentsupportaccelerator.com/funding-tutoring-programs">did not require tutoring to be offered</a> to students in failing schools, although schools can still spend on tutoring if they choose.</p>
<p>Not all tutoring is effective. Research shows that for tutoring to be effective – or what I refer to as <a href="https://studentsupportaccelerator.com/sites/default/files/Presentation%20-%20What%20is%20High-Impact%20Tutoring.pdf">high-impact tutoring</a> – there are several critical elements. <a href="https://doi.org/10.26300/qf76-rj21">They include</a> small groups, meaning no more than three students. Tutoring also works best when it is <a href="https://studentsupportaccelerator.com/district-playbook/section-4/scheduling-sessions">embedded in the school day</a>, such as during homeroom or as an elective, occurs with a consistent tutor and takes place for at least 30 minutes at least three days a week. And it involves using student assessment data so that the tutor knows where to focus instructional time.</p>
<p>In fact, this type of small-group, relationship-based, data-informed, intensive tutoring embedded in the school day has been shown to have a <a href="https://doi.org/10.26300/qf76-rj21">larger positive effect</a> on student learning than any other academic intervention, such as reducing class sizes or sending teachers to professional development. <a href="https://studentsupportaccelerator.com/research/to-date">A large body of rigorous research</a> shows that tutoring can help students who are behind catch up by as much as half a school year to a full school year.</p>
<h2>3. Does tutoring work online?</h2>
<p>New studies from <a href="https://www.esade.edu/ecpol/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Working_paper_Menttores.pdf">Spain</a> and <a href="https://www.edworkingpapers.com/ai21-350">Italy</a> find that virtual tutoring can be effective. Like in-person tutoring, virtual tutoring connects students to a consistent tutor. They just meet online instead of in person.</p>
<p>Potential for online tutoring broadens opportunities for students in rural districts. It does the same for those who need tutoring in subjects for which it is harder to find teachers, such as math.</p>
<h2>4. How can parents get free tutoring for their kids?</h2>
<p>The most effective way for parents to get free tutoring for their children is through their school. Tutoring programs offered through their child’s school offer a number of benefits for students, schools and parents. Students who attend tutoring as part of their regular school education either during or immediately before or after school are shown to have <a href="https://doi.org/10.26300/qf76-rj21">higher attendance rates</a>, which leads to better outcomes, such as <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2009/attendancedata/chapter1a.asp">stronger math and reading achievement</a>.</p>
<p>When tutoring is offered through the school, it enables the child’s teacher and tutor to collaborate on ways to help the child progress. </p>
<p>However, not all schools offer high-impact tutoring. Some states such as <a href="https://boardofed.idaho.gov/empowering-parents-program/">Idaho</a>, <a href="https://www.in.gov/doe/about/news/indiana-department-of-education-launches-statewide-math-and-englishlanguage-arts-tutoring-grant-program-for-indiana-families/">Indiana</a> and <a href="https://go2tutors.com/new-hampshire-tutoring-grants-unused/">New Hampshire</a> offer grants to parents that can be spent on tutoring. But in those cases, the parent must register and transport their child to take advantage of this opportunity.</p>
<p>Other states and districts offer opt-in tutoring or tutoring that is available at a convenient time, or homework help options. While there is value in this type of tutoring, <a href="https://www.edworkingpapers.com/index.php/ai22-654">recent research</a> shows that this type of tutoring – which is reliant on the student to ask for help – often does not reach those students most in need, and therefore likely will not show the same learning growth that high-impact tutoring does.</p>
<p>If educators want to reap the benefits of tutoring, research shows it should be high-impact tutoring that is built into the schools over the long run. Anything else will be less effective.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/188050/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Susanna Loeb does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Billions of dollars are being spent on tutoring in the US. Will it be enough to help schoolchildren make up for pandemic learning loss? An education economist weighs in.Susanna Loeb, Director of the Annenberg Institute and Professor of Education, Brown UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1714002021-11-14T19:06:53Z2021-11-14T19:06:53ZBeing in a class with high achievers improves students’ test scores. We tried to find out why<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/431614/original/file-20211112-27-ysw4k6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/diverse-group-students-learning-classroom-740361820">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Who you go to school with matters. Almost all of us, as children or parents of children, have felt the influence of good, and bad, classmates at school.</p>
<p>There is a <a href="https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev-economics-071813-104217">large body of research</a> showing better peers <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128153918000215">can help increase</a> a child’s test scores. But much less is known about how these peer effects actually take place between classmates. This is because the mechanisms through which peers positively influence other students are difficult to pinpoint.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.iza.org/publications/dp/13938/on-the-mechanisms-of-ability-peer-effects">results of our study</a> get us closer to understanding how peer effects work.</p>
<p>We found parental investment increases when a child is in a classroom with higher performing peers. This could partly explain why test scores increase for students in such classrooms. But we also found while their test scores may go up, little else does. For instance, the amount of time a student spends studying when in a classroom with higher performing peers does not go up. </p>
<p>Our study shows the positive effects of peers seem to occur with no real extra effort from the student.</p>
<h2>Combining rich data and a social experiment</h2>
<p>Our study is the first of its kind to test many of the possible mechanisms underlying the transmission of peer effects. </p>
<p>We tested 19 different ways peers can positively influence their classmates. These fall into three main categories: student behaviour, parental investments and school environment. They cover mechanisms such as students’ study effort and participation in class, aspirations and expectations to go to university, parents’ time, parental support and strictness, and teacher engagement.</p>
<p>We used data from the national <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/314260007_Transition_from_School_to_Work_An_Introduction_to_Taiwan_Education_Panel_Survey_and_Its_Follow-up_Project_-_Taiwan_Education_Panel_Survey_and_Beyond">Taiwanese Education Panel Survey</a> of more than 20,000 students, parents, teachers and school administrators. The data includes student characteristics such as how many hours they spend studying per week, parental education and how much time students spend with their parents. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/431630/original/file-20211112-17-1vj202r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Girl studying on her bed." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/431630/original/file-20211112-17-1vj202r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/431630/original/file-20211112-17-1vj202r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/431630/original/file-20211112-17-1vj202r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/431630/original/file-20211112-17-1vj202r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/431630/original/file-20211112-17-1vj202r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/431630/original/file-20211112-17-1vj202r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/431630/original/file-20211112-17-1vj202r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Data included how much time students spend studying.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/teenage-girl-using-laptop-do-homework-488084416">Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>We analysed this data from middle schools in Taiwan (ages 12 to 14, or years 7 to 9 in Australia) where students are assigned to classrooms by chance. This way, we could compare kids in the same school in classrooms with higher- or lower-achieving peers.</p>
<p>Each student takes a standardised test at the beginning of year 7, and another test at the beginning of year 9. We measured the progress these students made. </p>
<p>We compared kids who had the same test scores at the beginning of year 7, and controlled characteristics we know make a difference for test scores. These include parental education, how much time each student spends studying and teacher motivation. The only difference between the students we compared, in terms of influence on academic results, was the classroom they were assigned to by chance.</p>
<h2>Students in top classrooms had higher grades</h2>
<p>For simplicity, we can explain it like this. There are two students in the same school. One is assigned by chance to a classroom where the standardised test scores are the average in the country. And the other is assigned to a classroom where the test scores are the top in the country. Other than that, the two students are identical.</p>
<p>We examined the scores of both these two kids two years later.</p>
<p>In our study, the student assigned to the top classroom has progressed more than the student in the average classroom.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/our-study-in-china-found-struggling-students-can-bring-down-the-rest-of-the-class-149917">Our study in China found struggling students can bring down the rest of the class</a>
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<p>In year 7, both students answered 31 questions out of 75 in the standardised test correctly. Two years later, the student in the average test-score classroom still answered 31 questions correctly, while the student in the top test-score classroom answered nearly 32 questions correctly. This equates to 2.4% more correct answers. </p>
<p>While this may seem like a small difference, it is <a href="https://hbr.org/2016/02/a-refresher-on-statistical-significance">statistically significant</a> and similar to what previous studies have found. However, our study goes beyond this.</p>
<h2>What else we found</h2>
<p>We also showed that two years later, the student in the top test-score classroom was 1.6 percentage points more likely to aspire to go university than the student in the average test-score classroom. And the top classroom student was 2 percentage points more confident in their ability to get into and attend university. </p>
<p>A later finding (which is yet to be published) was that students assigned to the top class had not changed the amount of hours they were spending on study.</p>
<p>However, the parents of the child assigned to a classroom with higher-achieving peers had spent more time with their child, and provided them with more general emotional support, two years later, than the parents of the child in the average test score classroom.</p>
<h2>Reasons for peer effects remain a mystery</h2>
<p>By testing more potential mechanisms than before, our study rules out many possible pathways for peer effects hypothesised in previous work. For example, we found no effects of high-achieving peers on students’ initiative in class, cheating, misbehaving and truancy, nor on parents‘ investments in private tutoring and aspirations for their child to go to university. There was also no difference in students’ perceptions of their school environment and teacher engagement.</p>
<p>While our study shows high-achieving peers positively influence student and parent behaviours, these alone don’t explain much of the positive effects on test scores in our data. In other words, the things that do change – aspirations and expectations, and parental investments – don’t fully account for the benefits of high-achieving peers.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/will-sorting-classrooms-by-ability-improve-marks-it-depends-on-the-mix-94172">Will sorting classrooms by ability improve marks? It depends on the mix</a>
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<p>The fact that our study didn’t deliver a clearer overall picture of how peer effects actually work is a testament to their complexity.</p>
<p>We were able to explore mechanisms due to the rich Taiwanese data combined with the unique experiment where students are randomly assigned to classrooms within schools.</p>
<p>But there were still two notable exceptions not measured, such as direct learning from peers and detailed teaching practices. </p>
<p>Collecting data on peer-to-peer interactions, such as discussing and coordinating tasks, is difficult but could be a key to unlocking the mystery of how higher-achieving peers benefit fellow students. </p>
<p>Data on teaching practices, like pairing students for group work and the amount of material covered in lessons, could also provide new insights.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/171400/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alexandra de Gendre is affiliated with the School of Economics at the University of Sydney, the IZA Institute of Labor Economics and the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Children and Families over the Life Course. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicolás Salamanca receives funding from the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Children and Families over the Life Course. He is affiliated with the Melbourne Institute: Applied Economic & Social Research at The University of Melbourne. </span></em></p>Our study is the first of its kind to test many of the possible mechanisms behind the positive effects peers may have on other students.Alexandra de Gendre, Postdoctoral Research Associate in Economics, University of SydneyNicolás Salamanca, Research Fellow, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1649142021-08-24T12:18:02Z2021-08-24T12:18:02ZStudents from struggling economic backgrounds sent home with food for the weekend have improved test scores, study finds<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416352/original/file-20210816-28-1b908yp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=114%2C0%2C4380%2C2673&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In the United States, at least 6 million children live in a household where at least one person is food insecure. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/child-is-handed-a-free-meal-prepared-by-the-cetronia-news-photo/1158414510?adppopup=true">Anna-Rose Gassot/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/research-brief-83231">Research Brief</a> is a short take about interesting academic work.</em></p>
<h2>The big idea</h2>
<p>When food banks work with schools to send children home with a backpack full of food over the weekend, they do better on reading and math tests, I found in a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2020.102040">recent study</a>. These effects are strongest for younger and low-performing students.</p>
<p>In the peer-reviewed <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2020.102040">study</a> published in December 2020, my co-authors – <a href="https://paulcollege.unh.edu/person/karen-conway">Karen Conway</a> and <a href="https://paulcollege.unh.edu/person/robert-mohr">Robert Mohr</a> – and <a href="https://www.lycoming.edu/profile/faculty/kurtzMichael.aspx">I</a> explored how weekend feeding programs, also known as “backpack” programs, affected end-of-grade tests in reading and math for third, fourth and fifth graders in North Carolina. These types of programs began independently in 1995 in a single school in Little Rock, Arkansas. Since then, Feeding America – a national network of food banks – has created its <a href="https://www.feedingamerica.org/our-work/hunger-relief-programs/backpack-program">BackPack Program</a> to help students “get the nutritious and easy-to-prepare food they need to get enough to eat on the weekends.” The program now <a href="https://www.feedingamerica.org/our-work/hunger-relief-programs/backpack-program">serves more than 450,000 students annually</a>. </p>
<p>Each Friday, students enrolled in the program are given a bag of mostly nonperishable food at school to help nourish them through the weekend. The packs typically consist of grains, fruits and vegetables, some sort of protein and milk. </p>
<p>We used BackPack Program data from a Feeding America food bank in North Carolina and student data from the state. This allowed us to compare how economically disadvantaged students – those most likely to enroll in the program – performed on math and reading tests before and after the program was adopted at their school.</p>
<p>We then compared this with the performance of all other students at the same school and with that of economically disadvantaged students at schools that had a similar percentage of economically disadvantaged students but nevertheless did not participate in the BackPack Program. </p>
<p>Our analysis shows economically disadvantaged students at schools that adopt a BackPack Program improve their reading and math scores by an amount similar to that of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/pam.21759">students at schools</a> that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2014.12.003">adopted a school breakfast program</a>.</p>
<p>Adoption of a BackPack Program appears to shrink the gap in test scores between economically disadvantaged and advantaged students by about 15%. We also show the program is more effective for the youngest students in our study – third graders – and for students with the lowest test scores. </p>
<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p>Weekend feeding programs fill a gap in many economically disadvantaged students’ nutritional needs between school lunch on Friday and school breakfast on Monday. In the United States, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2504067">6 million</a> children live in a household where at least one child is food insecure. Approximately <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2504067">540,000</a> of those live in households that report very low food security – that is, where children are not eating or not eating enough because there was not enough money for food.</p>
<p>Local food banks operated by Feeding America work with schools and community members to identify the most needy students and make sure they have enough food for the weekend.</p>
<p>The food bank is able to provide these food packs at a cost of approximately US$5 per student per week. This suggests the program is a cost-effective way to decrease hunger and improve academic outcomes.</p>
<h2>What still isn’t known</h2>
<p>There are many different kinds of weekend feeding programs with different goals, funding and community support. They may have different criteria for who can participate. The food packs may be distributed differently or contain different amounts or types of food. Some programs <a href="https://outofthegardenproject.org/programs/operation-backpack/">target the entire family</a> rather than a single student. Some organizations may actively seek out partnership with certain schools. Others may wait for motivated administrators or community members to initiate the program. It is not yet known how the effect of weekend feeding programs may be different under these varied circumstances or in different areas of the country.</p>
<h2>What’s next</h2>
<p>My co-authors and I have begun work on understanding the factors that lead a particular school to adopt a BackPack Program in the first place. We think that understanding how the program spreads will help researchers better understand the effect of the program itself.</p>
<p>[<em>Get the best of The Conversation, every weekend.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/weekly-highlights-61?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=weeklybest">Sign up for our weekly newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/164914/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Kurtz does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>When kids have enough food to eat over the weekend, they do better in reading and math, a December 2020 study finds.Michael Kurtz, Associate Professor of Economics, Lycoming CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1262322019-11-01T13:02:02Z2019-11-01T13:02:02ZDeVos’ formula for success: Trash public schools and push privatization<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/299772/original/file-20191101-187925-1vgwbrx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos wipes her brow during an October 2017 appearance in Bellevue, Washington.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Education-Secretary-Protests/80149b81ef2e4537b6cf9add38ccb1c6/25/0">AP Photo/Ted S. Warren</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When U.S Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos <a href="https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/statement-secretary-devos-2019-naep-results">discussed the results</a> from the 2019 National Assessment of Educational Progress, she described them as “devastating” and part of a worsening crisis in education.</p>
<p>The results showed a <a href="https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/reading/?grade=4&utm_content=&utm_medium=email&utm_name=&utm_source=govdelivery&utm_term=">slight decline in reading scores</a> and a <a href="https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/mathematics/?grade=4&utm_content=&utm_medium=email&utm_name=&utm_source=govdelivery&utm_term=">flattening in math scores</a>. </p>
<p>She noted that two out of three of the nation’s children aren’t proficient in reading. She also decried as ineffective the US$1 trillion in federal spending on education over the past 40 years, saying it has done nothing to stop the widening gap between the highest- and lowest-performing students.</p>
<p>“We cannot abide these poor results any longer,” DeVos stated. “We can neither excuse them away nor simply throw more money at the problem.”</p>
<p>As an <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=pLUjcFcAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">education scholar</a>, here are several issues that I see with DeVos’ take on the state of American education.</p>
<h2>1. DeVos continues to trash public education</h2>
<p>DeVos’ comments are part of a long-running critique of American primary and secondary school education.</p>
<p>“This country is in a student achievement crisis, and over the past decade it has continued to worsen, especially for our most vulnerable students,” DeVos stated.</p>
<p>In this, the education secretary follows a long line of critics – from former Secretaries of Education William J. Bennett and <a href="https://www.the74million.org/article/bush-institute-margaret-spellings/">Margaret Spellings</a> to author <a href="https://www.cato.org/policy-report/novemberdecember-2017/critics-state-education-reader">George H. Smith</a> – who see American schooling as a shambles, dating back to the famous 1983 “<a href="https://www2.ed.gov/pubs/NatAtRisk/index.html">A Nation at Risk</a>” report, which criticized mediocre academic performance as being akin to an “act of war.”</p>
<h2>2. DeVos uses test scores to push her privatization agenda</h2>
<p>DeVos uses the “student achievement crisis” turned up by the latest national test scores to urge support for alternatives to public K-12 education. For instance, when she spoke about “expanding education freedom,” she is alluding to greater support for voucher systems and charter schools as alternatives to, and in competition with, public primary and secondary schools. This is a <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2019/03/27/charter-school-betsy-devos-school-choice/3251111002/">stance</a> she has taken <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2019/03/27/charter-school-betsy-devos-school-choice/3251111002/">throughout her time in the Trump administration</a>.</p>
<p>It’s important to note that DeVos does not call for reforming public schools or increasing support to teachers or students, either of which could potentially boost future test results.</p>
<h2>3. DeVos is pushing a free market approach to education reform</h2>
<p>Reducing the federal government’s role and increasing privatization is the essence of the DeVos approach to education. Her approach is based on a free market philosophy that focuses on private good rather than public benefit. For example, she believes personal benefits – not social benefits – will follow what she describes as the administration’s “transformational plan to help America’s forgotten students escape failing schools.” This approach sees personal material gains in the form of compensation and skills-building as more important than cultural change or broader social good.</p>
<p>DeVos sees vouchers and charter schools as the means of escape from failing schools, saying, “students can break out of the one-size-fits all system and learn in the ways that will unlock their full potential.”</p>
<h2>4. DeVos diminishes inequity</h2>
<p>DeVos offers just a hint of recognition of inequity in her remarks, such as when she decries the school experience of “our most vulnerable students.” Yet, there is no clarity on what – be it race, class, geography or gender – defines or makes these students vulnerable. Nor does DeVos call for directing resources these students’ way. </p>
<h2>5. DeVos is silent on educational technology</h2>
<p>Despite how deeply K-12 schools have invested in <a href="https://www.ed.gov/oii-news/use-technology-teaching-and-learning">educational technology</a> to <a href="https://gsehd.gwu.edu/articles/5-ways-technology-has-improved-k-12-education">improve education</a>, DeVos makes no mention of adapative learning, multimedia materials, rich media classrooms or students learning to code. She doesn’t call for technological fixes to improve student outcomes, nor criticize badly implemented tech as a cause of unfortunate scores. </p>
<p>[ <em>Like what you’ve read? Want more?</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=likethis">Sign up for The Conversation’s daily newsletter</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/126232/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bryan Alexander does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Education Secretary Betsy DeVos discusses ‘expanding education freedom’ for American students.Bryan Alexander, Senior Scholar, Learning, Design and Technology, Georgetown UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1182382019-07-16T22:01:08Z2019-07-16T22:01:08ZESL tests: Memorization is a shortcut to high scores, but not to lasting learning<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281812/original/file-20190628-94696-13x1580.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">For immigrants who are learning to speak English, language tests are gatekeepers to their futures. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Canada plans to receive <a href="https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/ircc/migration/ircc/english/pdf/pub/dp-pm-2018-2019-eng.pdf">300,000 to 350,000 immigrants in 2019</a>, and likely more than that number annually in the coming years. In 2018, there were <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/5166974/international-students-canada/">572,415 valid study permits</a> in the country — evidence of the <a href="https://cbie.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/International-Students-in-Canada-ENG.pdf">increasing trend of international students coming to Canada</a>. </p>
<p>Most people coming to Canada for various purposes are coming from non-English-speaking countries: in 2016, <a href="https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/as-sa/98-200-x/2016017/98-200-x2016017-eng.cfm">72.5 per cent of immigrants reported having a mother tongue other than English</a>. </p>
<p>Aspiring immigrants need to take various English tests, such as the <a href="https://www.ieltscanada.ca/">International English Language Testing System</a> (IELTS) or <a href="https://www.toeflgoanywhere.org/?gclid=CjwKCAjw9dboBRBUEiwA7VrrzZtpuKPvVb-aHjjbGeWBpRaoXXU0pwh1Rp0GbKvk8hptiA7xiCeNCBoC7LUQAvD_BwE">Test of English as a Foreign Language</a> (TOEFL), to demonstrate their English abilities. </p>
<p>While excelling on such tests might increase someone’s confidence, there are global studies that suggest a prevailing <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/education-news/articles/2018-05-23/despite-higher-academic-standards-student-performance-is-lacking">discrepency between students’ English-language test scores</a> and students’ <a href="http://www.researchonline.mq.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/mq:35533;jsessionid=9AD35A2ECD96847A232AB6A4DA3EFDD3?f0=sm_creator%3A%22Dooey%2C+Patricia%22">real abilities to function in the English language</a>. </p>
<p>The fact that this can be a problem becomes apparent when students are admitted to universities <a href="https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/51149019.pdf">with sufficient English test scores</a>, <a href="https://www.thespec.com/news-story/9073752-more-than-400-students-in-india-told-to-retake-language-tests-after-niagara-college-flags-concerns">yet fail at their academics because of poor English-language skills</a>.</p>
<p>This situation could imaginably have dire psychological or financial consequences for students and their families. And what is the impact on professors or departments if increasing numbers of students lack the language skills to meet the curricular standards? </p>
<p>Immigrants with English-language skills significantly lower than what their test scores may indicate could find their <a href="http://www.piaac.ca/docs/PIAAC%202012%20Immigrants%20Canada%20Final%20EN.pdf">access to services or programs is impeded and their abilities to find employment is limited</a>. </p>
<h2>Intense preparation</h2>
<p>Standardized tests, <a href="http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/mar99/vol56/num06/Why-Standardized-Tests-Don%27t-Measure-Educational-Quality.aspx">designed to be general, will never be good at capturing the particularities of different contexts</a>. It’s perhaps no surprise that a language test, focused on formal qualities of written and spoken language, won’t necessarily assess the way someone functions in a specific academic or linguistic local setting. </p>
<p>The particularities of technically correct language means that in some cases even a native English speaker <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/026553229301000307">might not score well on a standardized English language test if he or she doesn’t prepare for the examination</a>.</p>
<p>Evidence suggests that when people prepare for these English-language tests, <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0265532209347148">their immediate goal is achieving the highest result</a>, so they approach this with <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1191/1362168805lr152oa">targeted test preparation</a>. After all, for people seeking to immigrate, these language tests are gatekeepers to their futures. </p>
<p>Students <a href="http://ejournals.lib.auth.gr/thal/article/view/5521">usually prepare by practising with the previous question papers</a>, “drilling” answers over and over to learn the question patterns. </p>
<p>I took an IELTS test as a requirement to submit my applications to Canadian universities. When I started preparing for the test, because I was unfamiliar with the question patterns, I prepared intensively to answer the questions quickly. To practise how to answer the listening part of the test, I used previous tests to get a sense of the questions that might appear. Before the listening started, I looked at the questions to guess the expected answers. I also memorized high-frequency words for the writing section. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281814/original/file-20190628-94712-18i8d8c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281814/original/file-20190628-94712-18i8d8c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281814/original/file-20190628-94712-18i8d8c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281814/original/file-20190628-94712-18i8d8c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281814/original/file-20190628-94712-18i8d8c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281814/original/file-20190628-94712-18i8d8c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281814/original/file-20190628-94712-18i8d8c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">We are living in a test-dominated world.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>I scored high, with a perfect score in the speaking section. As a student, teacher and researcher, I know that my score reflected my intense test preparation, however, not my actual proficiency in English. Now, in my PhD studies, I am exploring how test-takers perceive the influence of testing on their learning.</p>
<h2>Integrate assessment with learning</h2>
<p>If it’s common to see gaps between what standardized language tests show and a person’s actual level of proficiency, does it have to be this way? </p>
<p>How particular <a href="https://koreatesol.org/sites/default/files/pdf/%282%29%20Jeon-A%20View%20from%20Korea%20%282010%20AsiaTEFL%20Book%20Series%29.pdf">countries and language learning systems mesh with the specific standardized English-language tests has come under scrutiny</a>. And, assessment and testing theory itself is changing with the rise in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118784235.eelt0814">a culture of global testing</a>. </p>
<p>Assessment is <a href="https://theconversation.com/reduce-childrens-test-anxiety-with-these-tips-and-a-re-think-of-what-testing-means-111730">not simply as a thermometer to take an end-point temperature</a>, but something that <a href="http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/policyfunding/growsuccess.pdf">should be used to monitor and support learning towards particular developmental goals or standards</a>. </p>
<p>Ideally there could be more continuity between English-language proficiency testing and English-language learning <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/researchers-find-that-frequent-tests-can-boost-learning/">to help students develop more complex understanding</a>. </p>
<p>Hoping for a test-free world is not going to help any of us. Instead, we all need to improve tests so they have positive effects on teaching and learning languages.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/118238/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nasreen Sultana does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>It’s possible to be a test-taker who achieves a high score in English language tests, yet remain unable to function well in the language.Nasreen Sultana, PhD Candidate, Faculty of Education, Queen's University, OntarioLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/990702018-09-30T15:14:40Z2018-09-30T15:14:40ZWe all put too much emphasis on test scores<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237963/original/file-20180925-149982-13zm8kc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Language tests are an important factor in determining whether international students are admitted to universities.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>We live in testing times. We also live in a time of globalization, immigration and the internationalization of schools and universities around the world. Our current obsession with school accountability and student learning outcomes has resulted in the increased use and abuse of test scores — in particular language test scores. </p>
<p>Language test scores are now an admission ticket for post-secondary education and for skilled immigrants trying to gain entry into new countries. Test scores serve as the key to learning opportunities and professional success, impacting millions of lives. They also <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09695940701272948">play a crucial role in political, social and educational policies</a>.</p>
<p>Despite the considerable consequences of language testing, what exactly do test scores indicate? What can we tell about someone and their achievement or professional capability from a single test score? What are the implications when bureaucrats and education officials misinterpret test scores when making policy decisions on immigration or attracting more international students? </p>
<p>In my role as director of the <a href="https://educ.queensu.ca/aeg">Assessment and Evaluation Group</a> in the Faculty of Education at Queen’s University, I’ve been involved in research on how students are tested for language proficiency and the consequences of such testing.</p>
<h2>Second language is essential</h2>
<p>It’s an important topic because evidence shows that an ability to speak a second language can determine so many things about an immigrant’s future, including economic success, social integration and their overall ability to contribute to society. My research looks at the prevalence and impact of language testing. A key issue is how test scores are used or misused by policy makers.</p>
<p>We should not be using a single test score to make decisions that can have a huge impact on someone’s life. However, governments and organizations tend to do this because it is cheaper and they believe it offers a more clean-cut case on immigration, university entrance and professional certification. </p>
<p>According to the <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/171025/dq171025b-eng.htm">latest census data</a>, Canada has more than 7.5 million foreign-born individuals who arrived as immigrants. That represents about 22 per cent of the population.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237964/original/file-20180925-149958-17wu6yx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237964/original/file-20180925-149958-17wu6yx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237964/original/file-20180925-149958-17wu6yx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237964/original/file-20180925-149958-17wu6yx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237964/original/file-20180925-149958-17wu6yx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237964/original/file-20180925-149958-17wu6yx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237964/original/file-20180925-149958-17wu6yx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Many external factors can impact how someone performs on a test on any given day.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>All skilled workers and professionals who wish to immigrate to Canada need to <a href="http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/index.asp">demonstrate their English or French language ability via a language test</a>, no matter where in the world they come from. The results of their test scores determine <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/montrealer-s-immigration-status-in-limbo-after-government-questions-his-french-skills-1.4690455">whether they are permitted to settle</a> and to practise as recertified professionals in Canada. </p>
<h2>Increase in international students</h2>
<p>There has been a rapid increase in the number of international students who wish to study at Canadian universities. The latest federal government data shows Canada had roughly 500,000 international students at the end of 2017. Canada’s international student population has nearly tripled over the past decade and <a href="http://canadianimmigrant.ca/careers-and-education/international-students/studyincanada/huge-surge-in-international-students-coming-to-canada-to-study">now ranks fourth behind the United States, the United Kingdom and China</a>. Canada retains many of these international students as skilled workers through <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/skilled-immigrants-to-be-offered-express-entry-to-canada-in-2015-1.2617961">Express Entry</a>.</p>
<p>All international students are required to take a language test as part of the application process and their scores must meet the entrance requirements for Canadian universities.</p>
<p>It’s natural to assume anyone taking those tests would be nervous, anxious or even frustrated. That is what we call high-stakes testing, which affects the lives of millions of people, all over the world, every day.</p>
<h2>An incomplete picture</h2>
<p>For example, when the stakes are high, research suggests that test-takers’ <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/studies-in-second-language-acquisition/article/social-psychology-and-second-language-learning-the-role-of-attitudes-and-motivation-gardner-r-c-london-edward-arnold-1985-pp-xiv-208/49709BAFED8ABB155AFBF68FCFB39E95">motivation</a> and <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/annual-review-of-applied-linguistics/article/language-anxiety-and-achievement/4DBB97FCB69BD1632CBBDAD96C81884E">anxiety</a> are significant factors associated with their test performance. Judging someone’s test score without taking those factors into account presents an incomplete picture of the person taking the test.</p>
<p>Successfully evaluating someone’s English- or French-language abilities through various language tests has a direct impact on millions of lives of people who come to Canada to study and settle.</p>
<p>Education and government decision-makers should not rely solely on test scores when making decisions about admitting people to schools or the country. That’s why test validation — ensuring accurate uses and interpretations of the test scores — has become so important and has grown into <a href="https://www.iltaonline.com/default.aspx">a major field of research</a>.</p>
<p>Our research at Queen’s is intended to raise public awareness of the intended and unintended consequences of how test scores are used and to make the case that policy-makers need better training on how to properly interpret scores.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/99070/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Liying Cheng receives funding from SSHRC. </span></em></p>Policy-makers use language test scores to determine who gets into universities or can immigrate. But there are problems with using single test scores to make such important decisions.Liying Cheng, Professor and Director of Assessment and Evaluation Group, Queen's University, OntarioLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/537912016-02-02T11:07:32Z2016-02-02T11:07:32ZWhy do fewer black students get identified as gifted?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/109842/original/image-20160201-32240-u4pl5m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Why aren't enough black students identified for gifted programs?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/hocolibrary/8672913964/in/photolist-edoXao-edoVj1-ediikt-edighc-edijCP-edifkF-edifQM-edoW5S-edoVkL-edienx-ediee2-edid4K-edoU4Y-edoVNC-edoTaE-ediiWx-edijJB-edoXZb-edidsk-edoWa1-edicQ8-ediiwg-edoY8A-edoWBs-edoU2A-edierM-edoRT9-edicTM-edijnz-edoXum-edoTHs-edoV4b-edoTmJ-edid6Z-ediewZ-edoRNW-edoX3o-edoTz3-edieXp-ediekH-edoRgd-edigcx-ediebn-edoSpY-edoWqf-edoUyJ-edihQe-edoVD5-edoRH1-83VeBw">Howard County Library System</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Nationally, black and Hispanic students are <a href="https://my.vanderbilt.edu/jasongrissom/files/2012/05/teacher_principal_diversity_gifted.pdf">underrepresented in gifted programs</a>, which provide specialized instruction or other services to meet the needs of especially bright or talented students.</p>
<p>Data from the U.S. Department of Education show that black and Hispanic students make up 40 percent of public school students but make up only <a href="http://ocrdata.ed.gov/StateNationalEstimations/Estimations_2011_12">26 percent of students</a> enrolled in gifted programs. </p>
<p>So what are the reasons for this underrepresentation?</p>
<p>One possibility is that these disproportionately low rates simply reflect differences in academic achievement across demographic groups. Indeed, a large body of research demonstrates that black and Hispanic students <a href="http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/003465304323031049">lag behind</a> their white and Asian peers even at kindergarten entry.</p>
<p>However, a recent <a href="http://ero.sagepub.com/content/2/1/2332858415622175">study</a> I coauthored with <a href="https://my.vanderbilt.edu/chrisredding/">Christopher Redding</a>, a doctoral student at Vanderbilt University, shows that differences in achievement are only part of the story. </p>
<h2>The black-white gap in gifted identification</h2>
<p>We based our research on an analysis of gifted placements in the <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/ecls/">Early Childhood Longitudinal Study</a>, which tracked a nationally representative sample of kindergartners throughout elementary school. A nice feature of these data is that they contain standardized achievement measures in math and reading for every student. </p>
<p>When we took student achievement levels into account, we found different patterns for Hispanic and black students. Essentially all of the gifted assignment gap between Hispanic and white students can be explained by test score differences. In stark contrast, math and reading scores explained only a little of <a href="http://ero.sagepub.com/content/2/1/2332858415622175">the black-white gap</a> in gifted assignment. In fact, a black student with the same scores as a white student is still only half as likely to be assigned to a gifted program.</p>
<p>In other words, two students – one black and one white – with the same math and reading achievement could have very different likelihoods of being identified as gifted. </p>
<p>This is a startling finding. </p>
<p>And, as additional analysis in our study shows, it cannot be explained by other differences in student background, such as parental education and household income.</p>
<p>Our investigation of school and classroom factors, however, does point toward two contributors to the black-white gap.</p>
<p>The first is that black students are less likely than white students to attend schools that offer gifted programs. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/109844/original/image-20160201-32237-s5p83h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/109844/original/image-20160201-32237-s5p83h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/109844/original/image-20160201-32237-s5p83h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/109844/original/image-20160201-32237-s5p83h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/109844/original/image-20160201-32237-s5p83h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/109844/original/image-20160201-32237-s5p83h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/109844/original/image-20160201-32237-s5p83h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A teacher’s race can influence who gets selected for gifted programs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/departmentofed/9605585697/in/photolist-fCP8Yv-7QFkaS-fD6FGQ-9XjBSP-4sCHMR-6N6iwj-74jQRR-bmYYT5-fCVoqV-7y4D5d-e7Nm5-9hrRxn-akMvBf-fCVm5H-bzTN62-fD6Fvy-fCXgng-rbsKXR-7Qw18m-7Lgd87-bzTKMr-fDcVnW-gS6x9-kbHFt-fD6Grf-fCVioK-fCP8ua-fDcWah-bzTKGp-8UDAVN-kbHFu-6cPpRH-fCVnBr-fDcUzW-fCVkS6-fDcUTE-fCViac-fDcUZy-9cHyFS-fDcUsd-tCs3L-fDcULC-fD6GhA-dmYcfU-fD6Fkw-cU6sKU-3NQVr-fD6Fau-fCP8kR-oM4qKN">US Department of Education</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The second is that black students assigned to a white classroom teacher are much less likely to be assigned to gifted programs than those assigned to a black teacher.</p>
<p>The differences are big. </p>
<p>Black students in black teachers’ classrooms have almost the same probability of being assigned to gifted services as otherwise similar white students. However, black students in white teachers’ classrooms are identified for gifted services only about a third as often. </p>
<p>We find no similar evidence that having a same-race teacher matters for the gifted assignment of white, Hispanic or Asian students.</p>
<h2>Black teachers vs. white teachers</h2>
<p>Why would the teacher’s race matter for whether a black student is identified as gifted? </p>
<p>There are <a href="http://edr.sagepub.com/content/44/3/185.short">multiple possible explanations</a>. </p>
<p>Perhaps black students respond differently to teachers who look like them in ways that make their giftedness more apparent. Perhaps parents feel more comfortable advocating for their child to be evaluated for giftedness when they share a common background with the child’s teacher.</p>
<p>More likely, however, is that black teachers and white teachers perform differently when it comes to identifying giftedness in black students. What a black teacher more attuned to a black child’s background, culture and language may recognize as evidence of exceptional aptitude or talent may go undetected by a white teacher. </p>
<p><a href="http://research.upjohn.org/up_workingpapers/231/">Research</a> also shows that white teachers tend to express lower expectations for the academic success of black students than do black teachers. Worth noting is that at last count, <a href="http://edr.sagepub.com/content/44/3/185.short">83 percent of the teacher workforce is white</a>. </p>
<h2>How should students be screened?</h2>
<p>To receive gifted services, students must go through an evaluation to be formally designated as gifted. </p>
<p>School districts’ gifted evaluation processes vary, but most <a href="https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=xaJRhhzulgwC&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&ots=SqZmn6FWGR&sig=5jJPkhokhDqOMYFmOPkkmorZNKY#v=onepage&q&f=false">begin with a referral</a> for gifted evaluation from a classroom teacher. Students who are not referred by a teacher are unlikely to be evaluated. Teachers failing to recognize (or expect) giftedness in some students can be an important barrier to equal access.</p>
<p>One solution to the problem is to reduce the role of teacher discretion in gifted identification. Testing or evaluating all students for giftedness could ensure that high-aptitude students from traditionally disadvantaged groups get access to the services they need. </p>
<p>Indeed, school districts that have implemented so-called “universal screening” policies have seen <a href="http://www.nber.org/papers/w21519">dramatic increases</a> in the numbers of black, Hispanic and low-income students (another group our analysis shows are underrepresented) identified as gifted.</p>
<p>Studies show that gifted youth <a href="https://www.nagc.org/resources-publications/gifted-education-practices/why-are-gifted-programs-needed">benefit from gifted programs</a> on such outcomes as achievement and motivation. And gifted youth from marginalized groups <a href="http://www.nber.org/papers/w20453">benefit even more</a> than other students. </p>
<p>Gifted black students deserve the same opportunities as gifted white students to reach their academic potential. Whether the strategy is universal screening or better training of teachers to recognize giftedness among all students or another approach, our research suggests that school districts need to get serious about making sure that gifted services are accessible to all students who need them.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/53791/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jason A. Grissom does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Two students – one black and one white – with the same math and reading achievement could have very different likelihoods of being identified as gifted.Jason A. Grissom, Associate Professor of Public Policy and Education, Vanderbilt UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/533192016-02-01T11:07:45Z2016-02-01T11:07:45ZHere’s what will change with the new SAT<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/109714/original/image-20160129-3901-1d5j4x6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">What will change with the new SAT?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?lang=en&language=en&ref_site=photo&search_source=search_form&version=llv1&anyorall=all&safesearch=1&use_local_boost=1&autocomplete_id=&search_tracking_id=gnCqfNiD4J4jCtOidftCbg&searchterm=students%20taking%20test&show_color_wheel=1&orient=&commercial_ok=&media_type=images&search_cat=&searchtermx=&photographer_name=&people_gender=&people_age=&people_ethnicity=&people_number=&color=&page=1&inline=234590473">Student image via www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Starting in March 2016, students will be taking a new version of the SAT. The <a href="https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/educators/higher-ed/test-design">redesigned SAT claims</a> that it will,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>remove barriers to college, making it possible for more students to own their future. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The redesigned SAT also claims to be returning to its original <a href="http://www.brookings.edu/research/articles/1999/12/politics-toch">1901 purpose</a>, which was to create greater access to higher education for a diverse population. College Board, the nonprofit that administers the test, aims to do so through <a href="https://www.khanacademy.org/sat">free practice tools</a>, more waivers of testing fees and increased scholarship opportunities. </p>
<p>The question is: will the redesigned SAT be able to deliver on these attempts to ensure greater equity, or will it merely continue to measure the achievement gaps (disparity in educational outcomes) as they exist in our society?</p>
<p>As a researcher of educational equity, I know how much our nation’s achievement gaps are a direct result of the underlying <a href="http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/uploadedFiles/departments/clusteradmin/equity/educational%20debt.pdf">opportunity gaps</a> that result from the inequities in our stratified educational system. <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/03/26/sat">Research</a> has found that using standardized tests in general, and the SAT specifically, as a gatekeeper for access to higher education reinforces such inequities. </p>
<h2>A multi-billion industry</h2>
<p>Until 1994, the test was known as the Scholastic Aptitude Test: it was believed that the test measured innate ability. Subsequently, it was renamed the <a href="http://blog.prepscholar.com/why-was-the-sat-called-the-scholastic-aptitude-test">Scholastic Assessment Test</a> in recognition that the test measured achievement rather than aptitude. And since 1997, it has been officially known as the SAT.</p>
<p>Today’s SAT has been <a href="https://www.applerouth.com/blog/2015/10/05/cutting-edge-sat-research-in-publication/">proven to be coachable</a> – which means with tutoring and test preparation, students’ scores can rise. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/109702/original/image-20160129-3883-1r3xveu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/109702/original/image-20160129-3883-1r3xveu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/109702/original/image-20160129-3883-1r3xveu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/109702/original/image-20160129-3883-1r3xveu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/109702/original/image-20160129-3883-1r3xveu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/109702/original/image-20160129-3883-1r3xveu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/109702/original/image-20160129-3883-1r3xveu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Test coaching is a multi-billion dollar industry.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/easternarizonacollege/6264551147/in/photolist-axzsNx-axzsWi-axzsQD-axCaMq-adodTQ-axCaPC-axCaR1-8JKLrV-hyzRKt-9W3Wt4-ddPGTr-97mrhq-b3JkVg-9W6KYw-9W3Wut-9W3Wrx-9W3Wq4-9W6KQU-91WpPi-8ERjuu-9fsnDL-97igYk-5pPWpv-dj1CZD-dj1DbV-dj1BFm-5iGL9U-adoeKE-a17Df7-adkpVz-adkpGD-adoe81-adkq8g-adkqzi-adoetW-adkqhi-adoe11-adkq4t-adoeDo-adoegj-8JKKKr-5oZcpB-8ERjGb-dkdJYa-dj1Byb-dj1BD5-dj1Bvu-d9Yk2X-dj1DBa-dj1Dzg">Eastern Arizona College</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Consequently, test preparation has become a <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/articles/2014-10-08/sats-the-test-prep-business-is-booming">multi-billion dollar</a> industry in the U.S. as well as overseas. Students in elite schools in countries such as <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/27/world/asia/27seoul.html?_r=0">South Korea</a> focus on obtaining perfect SAT scores. Test prep courses could well range from US$300 a course to <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/evapomice/2013/11/21/do-sat-tutors-add-up-one-parents-journey-4/#53837e7242da4429d96d242d">$775 an hour</a> in the U.S. and up to <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/south-korean-students-turn-to-tutors-for-u-s-admissions-help-1416013874">$30,000 in South Korea</a> with college admissions <a href="http://www.barrons.com/articles/should-the-sat-be-scrapped-1431076096">counseling</a>. </p>
<p>The SAT is used for college admissions as a measure to predict how successful a student will be in college. However, <a href="http://www.cshe.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/shared/publications/docs/UC%20and%20the%20SAT_Geiser.pdf">large-scale research</a> conducted by the University of California in 2001 found limited correlation for an earlier version of the SAT in predicting future success in college. </p>
<p>This <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/28/sat-act-not-required-colleges_n_2206391.html">research has led to</a> over 800 colleges an universities no longer requiring SAT or ACT. </p>
<p>In fact, a <a href="http://www.fairtest.org/university/optional">growing number</a> of colleges and universities no longer require SAT or ACT, another <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/08/04/education/edlife/where-the-sat-and-act-dominate.html?_r=0">widely used</a> college entrance exam, in large part because of the limited effectiveness of the tests in predicting success in college.</p>
<h2>What will change in the new SAT?</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/sat?navid=gh-nsat">revisions to the SAT</a> to begin in March 2016 include a return to the original scoring system of 1,600 for combined math and the newly named “evidenced-based reading” subtests. </p>
<p>Writing an essay will now be optional. The current version (in use since 2004) requires the essay for a three-part test, with a maximum score of 2,400. This optional essay provides greater flexibility for students, particularly for those whose math skills may be much stronger than their writing skills. Such students will not be penalized for a lower writing score. </p>
<p>Importantly, there will be no penalty for guessing on questions – previously a wrong answer got a penalty of a quarter-point. The critical reading section, renamed evidenced-based reading and writing, will use <a href="https://www.collegeboard.org/pdf/founding_documents_and_the_great_global_conversation.pdf">historical documents</a> that have inspired individuals. Examples of this would be speeches by India’s leader of independence movement <a href="http://www.history.com/topics/mahatma-gandhi">Mohandas Gandhi</a>, American women’s rights’ activist <a href="http://www.biography.com/people/elizabeth-cady-stanton-9492182">Elizabeth Cady Stanton</a> and civil rights leader <a href="http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/martin-luther-king-jr">Martin Luther King Jr</a>. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/sat/inside-the-test/key-changes">math revisions</a> are said to be aligned with the Common Core. This section will have less computation and more real-world problems. </p>
<p>But there are varying views on math revisions.</p>
<p>Schools across the nation are in different places in their implementation of Common Core State Standards. So students in different places may or may not be taught in ways that align with the revisions. For example, James Murphy, a test preparation tutor, in his article in the [Atlantic](http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/01/new-sat-new-problems/384596/ “) suggests that the revised SAT math questions will potentially have the greatest detriment for most vulnerable students – low-income and nonnative English speakers – because of their lack of adequate preparation for these type of questions. </p>
<p>Some <a href="http://blog.prepscholar.com/complete-guide-to-the-new-sat-in-2016">others</a> believe these revised SAT math questions are more straightforward and require clearer demonstration of math concepts.</p>
<p>What will be helpful to students is the change in the vocabulary section that has been redesigned to prioritize defining more commonly used words in context rather than the notoriously obscure SAT vocabulary of previous test versions. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/109704/original/image-20160129-3888-137hmfz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/109704/original/image-20160129-3888-137hmfz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/109704/original/image-20160129-3888-137hmfz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/109704/original/image-20160129-3888-137hmfz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/109704/original/image-20160129-3888-137hmfz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/109704/original/image-20160129-3888-137hmfz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/109704/original/image-20160129-3888-137hmfz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The redesigned vocabulary section will do away with obscure words.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/61508583@N02/13331177783/in/photolist-mj2LGP-6a7f4n-5Ne1em-5NdY8C-5N9JdM-5Ne2iQ-5N9HCg-doFD6B-e3Z5GP-5kzq4n-ozsr7L-5NaUzw-8GJJJT-5Ncoc8-5NgC8d-5NdVws-5Ne2NG-5N9FAk-5Ne4eo-8HeXKt-oRRCpC-5ipqdu-5N9AQT-5N9BSg-2rxURh-5NaSPj-2AaxZK-5oNa1d-fPgFDv-dGhbPp-fxLEda-9rseaL-9neFR9-bmT93N-7ws9zV-5Bmv1h-5qieRp-bedMiV-5MHs34-7K2JsG-5NaxJQ-ozpzWp-oRRATS-oPRGfj-oRRByQ-oRRDuo-ozoBRa-oRBAE2-oRTwHX-ozp4oS">Philipp</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As with earlier tests, sample test questions will be <a href="https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/sample-questions">available</a> for practice.</p>
<p>For the transition period, many colleges will be accepting SAT scores from the previous version administered through January 23, 2016 or the revised version administered after March 5. </p>
<p>The College Board has created greater flexibility in the ways scores can be reported that <a href="https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/sat/scores/sending-scores/score-choice">students select</a> by test date. For example, students can choose to report the optional essay test score for a total score out of 2,400 or report just the math and reading sections for a total score out of 1,600. The College Board says this allows students to select their best scores for reporting to colleges and comply with what various colleges are requiring.</p>
<h2>SAT for school accountability</h2>
<p>Of late, the SAT has not only been used for college admissions, but <a href="http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2016/01/06/will-states-swap-standards-based-tests-for-sat.html">also as an accountability exam</a> required for high school students under the No Child Left Behind legislation and continuing under the Every Student Succeeds Act. </p>
<p>This was started by Maine in 2006, followed by Colorado, Connecticut and New Hampshire, to meet the mandates of the federal legislation. </p>
<p>Does the test actually measure how much students are learning? Along with the proven impact of high-cost private tutoring, the use of the SAT for school and teacher deserves more scrutiny. This is especially true because standardized tests are often a primary or even sole measure used in <a href="http://www.tcrecord.org/Content.asp?ContentID=18834">school report cards</a>. </p>
<p>In college admissions, the SAT is one of many measures of an applicants’ readiness – which is how it should be. </p>
<p><a href="http://teststandards.org/">Good measurement practice</a> says that no single assessment should be used for high-stakes decisions. Rather, multiple measurements in multiple formats at multiple points in time provide much more robust and accurate results. </p>
<p>So, the college application includes test scores, GPA, cocurricular activities, early college and/or AP credits, recommendation letters and essays. </p>
<p>Possibly, colleges could ask applicants to create and justify a "weighted formula” that demonstrates why an applicant’s total profile is a best fit for that institution for college admissions. This would require students to take ownership and advocate for their passions and successes as predictors of their future success. This type of measurement could serve everyone well. </p>
<p>The revised SAT can be one piece of a multidimensional system for college admissions for the over 4,000 colleges and universities in the U.S.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/53319/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Flynn Ross is affiliated with Scholars Strategy Network. </span></em></p>SAT prep is a multi-billion dollar industry today. Will the redesigned SAT restore its original goal of providing greater access to higher education for a diverse population?Flynn Ross, Associate Professor of Education, University of Southern MaineLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/329582015-03-15T19:26:46Z2015-03-15T19:26:46ZSix ways Australia’s education system is failing our kids<p>Amid debates about budget cuts and the rising costs of schools and degrees, there is one debate receiving alarmingly little attention in Australia. We’re facing a slow decline in most educational standards, and few are aware just how bad the situation is getting. </p>
<p>These are just six of the ways that Australia’s education system is seriously failing our kids.</p>
<h2>1. Australian teens are falling behind, as others race ahead</h2>
<p>The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) survey tests the skills and knowledge of 15-year-old students in more than 70 economies worldwide. And <a href="http://www.oecd.org/pisa/">it shows</a> that Australian 15-year-olds’ scores on reading, maths and scientific literacy have recorded statistically significant declines since 2000, while other countries have shown improvement. </p>
<p>Although there has been much media attention on falling international ranks, it is actually this decline in real scores that should hit the headlines. That’s because it means that students in 2000 answered substantially more questions correctly than students in 2012. The decline is equivalent to more than half a year of schooling.</p>
<p>Our students are falling behind: three years behind students from Shanghai in maths and 1½ years behind in reading.</p>
<p>In maths and science, an average Australian 15-year-old student has the problem-solving abilities equivalent to an average 12-year-old Korean pupil.</p>
<p>An <a href="http://www.iea.nl/">international assessment</a> of school years 4 and 8 shows that Australian students’ average performance is now below that of England and the USA: countries that we used to classify as educationally inferior.</p>
<p>The declining education standards are across all ability levels. <a href="http://research.acer.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1015&context=ar_misc">Analysis of PISA and NAPLAN</a> suggests that stagnation and decline are occurring among high performing students as well as low performers.</p>
<h2>2. Declining participation in science and maths</h2>
<p>It has been estimated that <a href="http://www.aigroup.com.au/portal/binary/com.epicentric.contentmanagement.servlet.ContentDeliveryServlet/LIVE_CONTENT/Publications/Reports/2013/Ai_Group_Skills_Survey_2012-STEM_FINAL_PRINTED.pdf">75%</a> of the fastest growing occupations require science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) skills and knowledge. </p>
<p>The importance of STEM is acknowledged by <a href="http://news.microsoft.com/download/presskits/citizenship/msnts.pdf">industry</a> and <a href="http://www.bca.com.au/newsroom/stem-strategy-would-help-drive-innovation">business</a>. Yet there are <a href="http://eprints.qut.edu.au/73153/1/Continuing_decline_of_science_proof.pdf">national declines</a> in Australian participation and attainment in these subjects. We are also among the bottom of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (<a href="http://www.oecd.org/about/">OECD</a>) 34 nations on translation of education investment to innovation, which is highly dependent upon STEM.</p>
<p>Fewer than <a href="http://amsi.org.au/publications/participation-year-12-mathematics-2004-2013/">one in ten</a> Australian students studied advanced maths in year 12 in 2013. In particular, there has been a <a href="http://openjournals.library.usyd.edu.au/index.php/CAL/article/viewFile/7625/8461">collapse in girls studying maths and science</a>.</p>
<p>A national gender breakdown shows that just 6.6% of girls sat for advanced mathematics in 2013; that’s half the rate for boys, and represents a 23% decline since 2004. In New South Wales, a tiny 1.5% of girls take the trio of advanced maths, physics and chemistry. </p>
<p>Maths is not a requirement at senior secondary level in NSW, Victoria and Western Australia, although it is compulsory in South Australia, and to a small extent in Queensland and the Northern Territory. In NSW, the requirement for Higher School Certificate (HSC) maths or science study was removed in 2001. The national curriculum also makes no requirement for maths or science study after Year 10. </p>
<p>Australia is just about the only developed nation that <a href="https://theconversation.com/make-maths-mandatory-and-well-improve-our-international-education-rankings-11663">does not make it compulsory to study maths</a> in order to graduate from high school. </p>
<p>A <a href="http://www.pc.gov.au/research/completed/literacy-numeracy-skills">recent report</a> by the Productivity Commission found almost one-quarter of Australians are capable of only basic mathematics, such as counting. Many universities now have to offer basic (school level) maths and literacy development courses to support students in their study. These outcomes look extremely concerning when we review participation and achievement in <a href="http://www.acola.org.au/PDF/SAF02Consultants/SAF02_STEM_%20FINAL.pdf">maths and science internationally</a>. </p>
<h2>3. Australian education is monolingual</h2>
<p>In 2013, the proportion of students studying a foreign language is at historic lows. For example in NSW, only 8% studied a foreign language for their HSC, <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/number-of-hsc-language-students-falls-to-record-low-20131002-2usv2.html">the lowest percentage ever recorded</a>. </p>
<p>In NSW, the number of HSC <a href="http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/ebos/static/ebos_stats.html">students studying Chinese</a> in 2014 was just 798 (635 of which were students with a Chinese background), whereas a decade ago it was almost double that number, with 1,591. </p>
<p>The most popular beginner language in NSW was French, with 663 HSC students taking French as a beginner in 2013. These numbers are extremely small when you consider that the total number of HSC students in NSW: more than 75,000.</p>
<p>These declines, which are typical of what has happened around the country, have occurred at a time when most other industrialised countries have been strengthening their students’ knowledge of other cultures and languages, in particular learning English.</p>
<p>English language skills are becoming a basic skill around the world. Monolingual Australians are increasingly competing for jobs with people who are just as competent in English as they are in their own native language - and possibly one or two more.</p>
<h2>4. International and migrant students are actually raising standards, not lowering them</h2>
<p>There are many who believe that Australian education is being held back by our multicultural composition and high proportion of migrant students. This could not be further from the truth. In the <a href="http://www.acer.edu.au/documents/PISA-2012-Report.pdf">most recent PISA</a> assessment of 15 year olds, Australian-born students’ average English literacy score was significantly lower than the average first-generation migrant students’ score, and not significantly different from foreign-born students. </p>
<p>The proportion of top performers was higher for foreign-born (14%) and first-generation students (15%) than for Australian-born students (10%).</p>
<p>Students from Chinese, Korean and Sri Lankan backgrounds are the <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/top-atar-hsc-performances-the-result-of-years-of-achievement-20141214-12442a.html">highest performers</a> in the NSW HSC. The top performing selective secondary schools in NSW now have more than <a href="http://www.australianreview.net/digest/2011/05/ho.html">80% of students coming from non-English</a> speaking backgrounds.</p>
<h2>5. You can’t have quality education without quality teachers</h2>
<p>While there are many factors that may contribute to teacher quality, the overall academic attainment of those entering teaching degrees is an obvious and measurable component, which has been the focus of rigorous standards in many countries. </p>
<p>An <a href="http://research.acer.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1014&context=teacher_education">international benchmarking study</a> indicates that Australia’s teacher education policies are currently falling well short of high-achieving countries where future teachers are recruited from the top 30% of the age cohort. </p>
<p>In Australia between <a href="https://digitalcollections.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/45254/3/DP534.pdf">1983 and 2003</a>, the standard intake was from the top 26% to 39%. By <a href="http://research.acer.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1014&context=teacher_education">2012/2013</a>, less than half of Year 12 students receiving offers for places in undergraduate teacher education courses had ATAR scores in the top 50% of their age cohort. </p>
<p>Teacher education degrees also had the highest percentage of students entering with
<a href="http://research.acer.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1014&context=teacher_education">low ATAR scores</a>, and the proportion of teacher education entrants with an ATAR of less than 50 nearly doubled over the past three years. We cannot expect above-average education with below-average teachers.</p>
<h2>6. Early learning participation is amongst the lowest in the developed world</h2>
<p>While Australia has recently lifted levels of investment in early childhood education, this investment has not been reflected in high levels of early childhood participation. In Australia, just 18% of 3 year olds participated in early childhood education, compared with 70% on average across the OECD. In this respect, we rank at 34 out of 36 OECD and partner countries. </p>
<p>Australia also ranks at 22 out of 37 on the OECD league table that measures the <a href="http://www.oecd.org/edu/Australia-EAG2014-Country-Note.pdf">total investment across education</a> as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product.</p>
<p>While low levels of expenditure and participation curtail any system, there is more negative impact from a lack of investment in early childhood than there would be from a lack of funding further up the educational chain. Nobel prize winner <a href="http://www.heckmanequation.org/content/resource/presenting-heckman-equation">James Heckmann</a> has shown how investment in early childhood produces <a href="http://www.oecd.org/edu/school/48980282.pdf">the greatest returns to society</a>.</p>
<h2>What to do?</h2>
<p>Funding is a critical issue, and not just in terms of what you spend, but also how you spend it. <a href="http://www.heckmanequation.org/content/resource/presenting-heckman-equation">Research suggests</a> spending on early childhood, quality teaching and core curriculum have the greatest returns on investment. </p>
<p>There is also growing evidence to suggest that a segregated schooling system – for example, <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/672011">socio-economically</a> or <a href="http://wol.iza.org/articles/school-tracking-and-intergenerational-social-mobility.pdf">academically selective</a> schools – is counterproductive and restricts social mobility. High-performing countries have school systems on a <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-lesson-from-canada-why-australia-should-have-fewer-selective-schools-35534">far more level playing field than Australia</a>.</p>
<p>We need a long-term plan across education sectors: from early childhood, to schools, universities and TAFE, which includes plans for supporting and strengthening teacher education in all those sectors.</p>
<p>We also need a louder public conversation about Australian education, and lobbying to shift how we value and invest in education. </p>
<p>When <a href="http://www.oecd.org/pisa/pisaproducts/46581323.pdf">Germany was shocked</a> by its first performance on the 2000 PISA assessment, it started a national conversation that saw education on the front page of newspapers for the next two years. Germany’s education has been improving ever since. </p>
<p>If Australia wants to build a <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02188791.2014.924387#.VQJMlfmUeSo">strong and competitive economy</a>, we need fewer front page articles about budget cuts, and more on reform and investment in education.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/32958/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Australia’s facing a slow decline in most educational standards and few are aware just how bad the situation is getting.Rachel Wilson, Associate Professor in Education, University of SydneyBronwen Dalton, Professor, Head of Department of Management, UTS Business School, University of Technology SydneyChris Baumann, Associate Professor in Business, Macquarie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/359952015-01-16T10:57:51Z2015-01-16T10:57:51ZCharter schools: fabulous or failures?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/69063/original/image-20150114-3879-122gwx2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">First Lady visits charter school in Washington DC</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Yuri Gripas/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Depending on who you ask, charter schools may be either an important <a href="http://successacademies.org/about/http://example.com/">solution</a> to persistent educational inequality, or a misguided <a href="http://www.npr.org/2013/09/27/225748846/diane-ravitch-rebukes-education-activists-reign-of-error">attack</a> on public schools as Americans know them. Both sides are firmly entrenched in this debate, which remains one the more polarizing arguments in American education. But what does the evidence actually say? The truth about charter schools is, as with many areas of public policy, somewhere in between. </p>
<p>Part of the difficulty in characterizing what experts know about charter schools is that it depends on the question we are asking. For supporters and opponents alike, the first question concerns performance: are the academic outcomes of students attending charter schools higher or lower than those in the traditional public sector? </p>
<p>One very recent <a href="http://www.crpe.org/publications/meta-analysis-literature-effect-charter-schools-student-achievement">study</a>, using sophisticated statistical techniques to summarize dozens of analyses across many states and cities, found that charter schools generally outperform traditional public schools in math, with little difference between the two sectors in reading. <a href="http://users.nber.org/%7Eschools/charterschoolseval/how_NYC_charter_schools_affect_achievement_sept2009.pdf">Studies</a> that account for student background by assigning charter seats on the basis of applicant <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/pam.21647/full">lotteries</a>–research generally considered the <a href="http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/pubs/evidence_based/randomized.asp">gold standard</a> for social science–have provided some of the strongest evidence for positive charter effects. </p>
<p>But if the bulk of the evidence available suggests modest, positive charter advantages for student achievement, this kind of bird’s eye view can mask important variation in the way charters operate nationwide. One recent <a href="https://credo.stanford.edu/documents/NCSS%202013%20Executive%20Summary.pdf">study</a> of schools in 27 states containing 95 percent of the nation’s charter students found charter advantages overall, but not necessarily in every state: reading scores were actually higher for traditional public school students in eight of the 27 states, and math scores higher in 13 out of 27 states. Similarly, a new lottery-based <a href="http://epa.sagepub.com/content/early/2014/12/04/0162373714558292.full">study</a> across 13 states found no significant advantage for charter students. Such differences are at least partly due to <a href="http://www.publiccharters.org/get-the-facts/law-database/">differences</a> in state laws defining what constitutes a charter school. </p>
<h2>Who benefits and who loses?</h2>
<p>Moreover, student achievement is not the only question under consideration in the charter debate. There is new evidence that charter schools’ impact on educational attainment – high school graduation or college enrollment – are <a href="http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.1086/658089?uid=3739656&uid=2&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=21105048071111">positive</a> and <a href="http://economics.mit.edu/files/8981">substantial</a>, perhaps more so than on student test scores. There may, however, be other impacts that are less desirable. A number of researchers have found <a href="http://www.rand.org/pubs/working_papers/WR306.html?src=mobile">evidence</a> that students in charter schools are more racially <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/pam.20226/abstract">segregated</a> than their traditional public peers. There is also the question of which students benefit from high-performing charters. Although some studies have <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/pam.21647/full">found</a> that <a href="http://epa.sagepub.com/content/early/2014/12/04/0162373714558292.full">disadvantaged</a> students may benefit the most from charter schooling, one prominent <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/ravitch-why-states-should-say-no-thanks-to-charter-schools/2012/02/12/gIQAdA3b9Q_blog.html">critique</a> claims that charter schools succeed by avoiding the most challenging students, including low achievers or students with special needs. </p>
<p>And do charter schools have an overall effect on students who remain in traditional schools? School districts may suffer net <a href="http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/EDFP_a_00121#.VLLJ5rwkg_5">financial</a> losses to charter schools and, although some supporters have argued that competitive <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/eva-moskowitz-the-charter-school-windfall-for-public-schools-1417215279">pressures</a> from charters can force public schools to improve their own performance, the evidence for such outcomes is unclear. </p>
<p>The answer then to the question of whether charter schools provide opportunities for students in struggling public schools appears to be “yes, but…” </p>
<p>The important word here is “opportunity.” For some students, attending certain charter schools may lead to significant improvements in their educational experiences. How those effects occur remains a matter for debate; explanations for charter successes and failures are as varied as the results themselves.</p>
<p>A careful and balanced appraisal of the charter school picture would recognize the potential that charters hold for students in some settings, while acknowledging that for most communities, the bulk of our social and economic investments remain in the traditional public sector.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/35995/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joshua Cowen has received research funding from the Spencer Foundation, the U.S. Department of Education, and the Walton Family Foundation; he has received no funding for charter school research. </span></em></p>Depending on who you ask, charter schools may be either an important solution to persistent educational inequality, or a misguided attack on public schools as Americans know them. Both sides are firmly…Joshua Cowen, Associate Professor of Educational Policy, Michigan State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.