Posted on by arotherham

You’ll Walk The Floor…

Jay Mathews with a sensible take on the debate about cheating in DC. per today’s USAT story. Rather than belabor the issue here, check out Jay’s post.  Like all things involving Michelle Rhee the conversation about this has already taken on a Manichean quality. That’s unfortunate because NAEP (the independent federal test) scores did go up in D.C., too, over the past few years so let’s hope the forest is not lost for the trees here.  And let’s also hope that every school that has great gains isn’t now seen as suspect, there is some great work going on around the country thanks to many great educators and some sensible caution and skepticism should not give way to total cynicism.

7 Replies to “You’ll Walk The Floor…”

  1. Magic ‘Improved’ Schools Just Happen To Have a Lot of Eraser Marks On Their Tests
    By JACK STUEF
    12:36 PM MARCH 28, 2011
    73 COMMENTS 1078 VIEWS

    How do you get out of hot water with Michelle Rhee and ply a bunch of Well-Meaning Treasure from her bonus heap?

    A USA TODAY investigation, based on documents and data secured under D.C.’s Freedom of Information Act, found that for the past three school years most of Noyes’ classrooms had extraordinarily high numbers of erasures on standardized tests. The consistent pattern was that wrong answers were erased and changed to right ones.

    This is a series of documents obtained by USA TODAY through public-records requests. It details a back-and-forth between two District of Columbia agencies on test-score investigations.
    Noyes is one of 103 public schools here that have had erasure rates that surpassed D.C. averages at least once since 2008. That’s more than half of D.C. schools.

    Wow, these schools are doing a really good job teaching their “kids” how to use an eraser! Thanks, Michelle!

    It was about time we brought into our schools what makes the private sector work so well. Cheating is Fundamental™

  2. At Noyes, USA TODAY found several grades with wide swings in their proficiency rates from one year to the next. In 2008, 84% of fourth-grade math students were listed as proficient or advanced, up from 22% for the previous fourth-grade class. The math scores for the fourth-grade class in 2010 dropped off to 52% proficient or better.
    For the school as a whole, test scores seemed to ride a roller coaster: In reading, from 2006 through 2010, the annual percentage of all Noyes students testing as proficient or higher went from 24% to 44% to 62% to 84% to 61%, according to official records. Reading scores at all D.C. elementary schools slumped on average by 4 percentage points from 2009 to 2010; Noyes’ scores plunged 23 points.

  3. In other words, yeah our flagship just got blown out of the water, but look how far out from shore we got before problems started coming to the surface.

  5. Miss Rhee dishes out on Tavis Smiley:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0Ht_uhy0ik

    She says the USA today report “absolutely “lacks integrity and credibility.
    That the article is mostly about one school, NoYes.
    That she brought in a third party to investigate and they found nothing amiss.
    That it’s sad that when disadvantaged kids score well, people don’t believe they can do it and that therefore there MUST have been cheating

    Erasures problems:
    2008
    Schools flagged for high erasure rates: 96
    School Flagged classes Total classes tested percentage
    Anthony Bowen Elementary 10 10 100%
    Phoebe Hearst Elementary 2 2 100%
    J.O. Wilson Elementary 13 14 93%
    Aiton Elementary 16 18 89%
    Hendley Elementary 7 8 88%
    Winston Education Campus 17 20 85%
    Savoy Elementary 5 6 83%
    Marie H. Reed Learning Center 13 16 81%
    Takoma Education Campus 14 18 78%
    Draper Elementary 6 8 75%
    Crosby S. Noyes Elementary 6 8 75%
    Birney Elementary 7 12 58%
    Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary 7 12 58%
    Raymond Elementary 7 12 58%
    Choice Academy 1 2 50%
    Luke C. Moore Academy 1 2 50%
    Plummer Elementary 6 12 50%
    Clark Elementary 4 8 50%
    Calvin Coolidge High 6 12 50%
    Cleveland Elementary 4 8 50%
    Charles Young Elementary 7 14 50%
    Marshall Educational Center 4 8 50%
    Barnard Elementary 6 12 50%
    Bruce-Monroe Elementary 4 8 50%
    Houston Elementary 6 14 43%
    Brookland Elementary 5 12 42%
    Eliot Junior High 5 12 42%
    Burrville Elementary 8 20 40%
    Simon Elementary 6 16 38%
    Miner Elementary 3 8 38%
    M.C. Terrell Elementary 5 14 36%
    Langdon Elementary 5 14 36%
    Seaton Elementary 5 16 31%
    John H. Ketcham Elementary 5 16 31%
    Kenilworth Elementary 3 10 30%
    MacFarland Middle 6 20 30%
    Shaed Elementary 2 8 25%
    Anne Beers Elementary 4 16 25%
    Webb Elementary 4 16 25%
    Tyler Elementary 2 8 25%
    Burroughs Elementary 3 12 25%
    Bell Multicultural High 5 20 25%
    Patricia R. Harris Education Center 8 34 24%
    Harriet Tubman Elementary 4 18 22%
    John Philip Sousa Middle 6 28 21%
    Cardozo Senior High 5 24 21%
    Woodrow Wilson High 8 40 20%
    W.B. Patterson Elementary 3 16 19%
    J.C. Nalle Elementary 3 16 19%
    Malcolm X Elementary 3 16 19%
    Shepherd Elementary 3 16 19%
    M.V. Leckie Elementary 3 16 19%
    Whittier Elementary 3 16 19%
    Truesdell Elementary 2 12 17%
    Washington High 1 6 17%
    Meyer Elementary 1 6 17%
    Park View Elementary 1 6 17%
    Neval Thomas Elementary 2 12 17%
    Payne Elementary 2 12 17%
    Hugh M. Browne Junior High 4 26 15%
    McKinley Technology High 3 20 15%
    Ferebee-Hope Elementary 2 14 14%
    H.D. Cooke Elementary 2 14 14%
    Jefferson Junior High 4 30 13%
    C.W. Harris Elementary 2 16 13%
    Drew Elementary 2 16 13%
    Gibbs Elementary 2 16 13%
    Brightwood Elementary 2 16 13%
    Maury Elementary 1 8 13%
    Benjamin Banneker High 1 8 13%
    Ludlow-Taylor Elementary 1 8 13%
    Anacostia Senior High 3 24 13%
    West Elementary 1 8 13%
    Turner Elementary 2 16 13%
    Stanton Elementary 2 16 13%
    Smothers Elementary 1 8 13%
    Francis Junior High 2 18 11%
    Paul LaurenceDunbar High 2 22 9%
    Randle Highlands Elementary 2 22 9%
    Garrison Elementary 1 12 8%
    Charles Hart Middle 4 50 8%
    Ballou Senior High 2 26 8%
    Walker-Jones Education Campus 1 14 7%
    Kramer Middle 2 28 7%
    Duke Ellington School of the Arts 1 14 7%
    Hardy Middle 2 30 7%
    Kelly Miller Middle 2 30 7%
    Backus Middle 1 16 6%
    LaSalle Elementary 1 16 6%
    Alice Deal Junior High 3 50 6%
    Shaw Junior High 1 18 6%
    Kimball Elementary 1 18 6%
    Johnson Junior High 1 18 6%
    Garnet-Patterson Middle 1 18 6%
    Powell Elementary 1 20 5%
    Merritt Education Campus 1 22 5%

    2009
    Schools flagged for high erasure rates: 46
    School Flagged classes Total classes tested percentage
    Birney Elementary 8 8 100%
    J.O. Wilson Elementary 10 12 83%
    Crosby S. Noyes Education Campus 13 16 81%
    Coolidge Senior High 8 10 80%
    Barnard Elementary 9 12 75%
    Marie H. Reed Learning Center 9 14 64%
    Plummer Elementary 5 8 63%
    Houston Elementary 6 10 60%
    Hendley Elementary 7 12 58%
    Burrville Elementary 8 16 50%
    C.W. Harris Elementary 4 10 40%
    M.V. Leckie Elementary 6 16 38%
    Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary 4 12 33%
    Tyler Elementary 2 6 33%
    Takoma Education Campus 5 16 31%
    Marshall Educational Center 3 10 30%
    West Elementary 3 10 30%
    Truesdell Elementary 5 18 28%
    Brightwood Elementary 5 18 28%
    Neval Thomas Elementary 2 8 25%
    Draper Elementary 1 4 25%
    Bruce-Monroe Elementary 4 16 25%
    Harriet Tubman Elementary 4 17 24%
    Ferebee-Hope Elementary 2 10 20%
    Cleveland Elementary 2 10 20%
    John H. Ketcham Elementary 1 6 17%
    Whittier Elementary 3 22 14%
    Simon Elementary 2 16 13%
    Moten Elementary 2 16 13%
    Stanton Elementary 2 16 13%
    Langdon Elementary 2 18 11%
    W.B. Patterson Elementary 2 20 10%
    Shaed Elementary 1 10 10%
    J.C. Nalle Elementary 1 12 8%
    Walker-Jones Education Campus 1 12 8%
    Kimball Elementary 1 12 8%
    John Philip Sousa Middle 2 26 8%
    Winston Education Campus 2 32 6%
    Aiton Elementary 1 16 6%
    Powell Elementary 1 18 6%
    Watkins Elementary 1 22 5%
    Ronald H. Brown Middle 1 36 3%
    Kelly Miller Middle 1 38 3%
    Alice Deal Junior High 1 46 2%
    Charles Hart Middle 1 56 2%
    Columbia Heights Educational Campus 1 60 2%

    2010
    Schools flagged for high erasure rates: 41
    School Flagged classes Total classes tested percentage
    J.O. Wilson Elementary 10 10 100%
    Crosby S. Noyes Education Campus 16 20 80%
    C.W. Harris Elementary 4 10 40%
    M.V. Leckie Elementary School 6 16 38%
    Ludlow-Taylor Elementary 2 6 33%
    West Education Campus 4 12 33%
    Kimball Elementary 3 10 30%
    Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary 4 16 25%
    Prospect Learning Center 2 8 25%
    Barnard Elementary 2 8 25%
    Benjamin Banneker High 2 8 25%
    Davis Elementary 2 8 25%
    Garrison Elementary 2 8 25%
    Raymond Education Campus 4 18 22%
    Anne Beers Elementary 3 14 21%
    Marie H. Reed Learning Center 2 10 20%
    Whittier Education Campus 5 28 18%
    Plummer Elementary 2 12 17%
    W.B. Patterson Elementary 3 18 17%
    Burrville Elementary 2 14 14%
    Simon Elementary 2 16 13%
    Brightwood Education Campus 3 24 13%
    Payne Elementary 1 8 13%
    Moten Elementary 2 18 11%
    Shaed Education Campus 1 10 10%
    LaSalle-Backus Education Campus 2 20 10%
    H.D. Woodson High 1 10 10%
    M.C. Terrell Elementary 1 10 10%
    Langdon Education Campus 2 22 9%
    Brookland Elementary 2 22 9%
    Ron Brown Middle 2 24 8%
    Truesdell Education Campus 2 24 8%
    Turner Elementary 1 12 8%
    J.C. Nalle Elementary 1 16 6%
    Aiton Elementary 1 16 6%
    Harriet Tubman Elementary 1 18 6%
    Eliot-Hine Middle 1 18 6%
    Hendley Elementary 1 18 6%
    Randle Highlands Elementary 1 18 6%
    John Burroughs Education Campus 1 20 5%
    Winston Education Campus 1 24 4%

    Note: 2008 classes were flagged using an index method that did not include class size; for 2009 and 2010 classes, the t-test method, which includes class size, was used. Source: Office of the State Superintendent of Education, District of Columbia

    http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2011-03-27-school-test-table_N.htm

  6. More from Miss Rhee:

    “It isn’t surprising,” Rhee said in a statement Monday, “that the enemies of school reform once again are trying to argue that the Earth is flat and that there is no way test scores could have improved … unless someone cheated.”

    Miss Rhee refused to speak with USA Today.
    They will probably be given the Bill Turque freeze-out.

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