Iowa Test of Basic Skills may be on way out

By MIKE WISER Globe Gazette Des Moines Bureau | Posted: Sunday, February 5, 2012 8:01 am | (0) Comments

DES MOINES – Thousands of Iowa students will pick up their No. 2 pencils to fill in tiny circles this month in a school-year ritual that may be as foreign to their children as desktop inkwells were to their parents.

The circles are synonymous with standardized testing and, in Iowa, that’s been synonymous with the Iowa Test of Basic Skills.

But last week, Department of Education Director Jason Glass told lawmakers that it was time to get rid of the Iowa Test of Basic Skills in favor of the still-under-development Smarter Balanced Assessment.

It’s a move some educators say is overdue and one that Glass forecasted this summer when he got the OK from Gov. Terry Branstad and State Board of Education President Rosie Hussey of Mason City to make Iowa a governing member of the Smarter Balanced Consortium, which is expected to introduce a new national testing system by the 2014-15 academic year.

It also comes at a time when ITBS has made moves to better align its test questions to the Iowa Core and to provide students, parents and teachers more information about each individual test-taker.

But it may be too little, too late for ITBS.

“They go beyond just memorizing and regurgitating facts. Smarter Balanced assessments are computer-adaptive, so we get results much more quickly than is possible with paper and pencil, bubble-sheet tests,” Department of Education spokeswoman Staci Hupp wrote in an email.

“These new assessments can be completed faster by the student, resulting in more time for instruction. The assessments also will allow for state-to-state comparisons, which have been difficult with a patchwork of state standards and tests across the country.”

Norm and criterion

The Iowa Test of Basic Skills is a norm-referenced test. That means students are compared to other students who take the test, and results come out on a bell curve.

The Smarter Balanced Assessments are set up to be criterion-referenced tests. Those measure the students against a set of standards, and the results come out more like a yard stick.

The move toward criterion-referenced tests goes back decades but really got a boost with the federal No Child Left Behind Act and the move toward a nationwide Common Core.

As that push toward criteria testing came, ITBS has tried to adapt, said Catherine Welch, a professor at the University of Iowa who also works for Iowa Testing Programs, which is responsible for ITBS.

“We have aligned to the Iowa Core in reading, math and (English language arts),” Welch said. “There’s a one-to-one ratio, so each question is directly related to one of the standards.”

Because of this, students will get individual Iowa Core reports when their results come out.

ITBS also has expanded its college readiness report to include grade 6 through 11, and there’s new student growth information that charts a student’s progress over time and predicts where he or she should be on future tests.

Welch said she understands there is a significant push by the governor and the department of education away from the ITBS.

“I hope that the discussion will continue and we can be a part of that discussion,” she said.

Looking ahead

Sioux City Community School District Superintendent Paul Gausman said he was happy “to learn that the state was participating so vigorously” in developing the Smarter Balanced Assessment.

“It’s very important for us to have a criterion-based test,” said Gausman, who also serves as chairman of the Urban Education Network, an organization representing the 17 largest school districts in the state.

Sioux City students take the ITBS in March.

He said the ITBS is good for what it is and the testing service has been as responsive as it can be, but the test doesn’t give teachers and administrators the measures they need.

“It provides a good snapshot, but what they are trying to do with Smarter Balanced is just much more comprehensive than what they can do with ITBS,” he said.

Jane Lindaman, associate superintendent of educational services at the Waterloo School District, agreed.

“They haven’t been able to produce a criterion-referenced test,” she said of Iowa Testing Programs. “And that is very important because under No Child Left Behind, we need something that shows if our schools and our students are making adequate yearly progress against the standards.”

Waterloo students take their test in March.

Still, it’s up to the Legislature if ITBS stays or goes.

“I think we have to be careful,” said Sharon Steckman, D-Mason City, a former teacher and ranking member on the House Education Committee. “We don’t know what Smarter Balanced is going to look like because no one has seen it yet.”

Jean Hessburg, spokeswoman for the Iowa State Education Association, said the union doesn’t have a position on the test.

“If Smarter Balanced turns out to be as good as it’s billed to be, it’s great,” she said. “But we don’t know what it will be.”

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“With education reform a key topic of the upcoming session, Rep. Steckman’s experience in the classroom and the Iowa House make her well prepared to help lead the House Education Committee,” said McCarthy.  “After spending 30 years in the classroom, she understands the challenges our schools and teachers face every day. I trust her to listen to parents and school leaders to ensure any reforms considered by the Legislature next year will help improve student achievement.”

“Iowa has amazing schools and teachers already, but there is more we can do to build a highly-skilled workforce,” said Steckman.  “As the Legislature considers major education reforms next session, my top priority will be ensuring every Iowa child graduates with the skills needed to land a good-paying job.”

To read more about the proposed reform or leave a comment go to: http://iowahouse.org/educationreform

“With schools planning to hand out pink slips to over 1,500 teachers, it’s outrageous that House Republicans are doing nothing to stop teacher layoffs at schools across Iowa,” said Rep. Sharon Steckman, D-Mason City. “With a $1 billion state surplus and improving economy, the state can provide modest growth for our schools next year and prevent teacher layoffs.”

Rep. Steckman called for an immediate debate and vote of House File 185, which provides a 2% allowable growth for Iowa schools. It has already been approved by the Senate but it was voted down on a party line vote in the Iowa House today.

“Iowa students and teachers deserve better,” concluded Steckman. “We can balance the state budget without leaving our kids behind.”

The Iowa Department of Education released this statement:

“Iowa provides high school students with an excellent opportunity to take courses through our highly-regarded community college system, and this report shows that more and more students are making use of this opportunity,” said Jason Glass, director of the Iowa Department of Education.

Iowa allows for students to be jointly enrolled in high school as well as community college credit coursework. Most jointly enrolled students do so through Senior Year Plus programs such as Postsecondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) and concurrent enrollment. Some students enroll independently by paying tuition or enrolling in courses delivered through contractual agreements that do not meet the definition of concurrent enrollment.

“Iowa’s school districts and community colleges are helping tens of thousands of students across the state take the courses they need to succeed in school, in careers and in life,” added Dr. Roger Utman, Administrator of the Division of Community Colleges and Workforce Preparation at the Iowa Department of Education.

Some of the highlights of this report include:

• Enrollment grew to a record high of 38,283 in 2010;

• Year-to-year growth was 14.2 percent, which was above the typical rate of growth. Average annual growth over the last five years was 8.4 percent;

• Jointly enrolled students accounted for 25.7 percent of total community college enrollment;

• Joint enrollment accounts for 13.6 percent of total credit hours;

• Most students (78 percent) enrolled through courses delivered through a contractual agreement between a community college and school district;

• Fifteen percent of students enrolled through Postsecondary PSEO courses;

• Fifty-nine percent of joint enrollees were seniors in high school, and 32 percent were juniors;

• Approximately 51 percent of joint enrollees were female, a lower proportion than the total student body;

• Approximately 10 percent of joint enrollees had a minority racial or ethnic background, a lower proportion than the total student body;

• Of courses taken by jointly enrolled students, the most common subject areas are English language and literature, social sciences and history, and mathematics, followed by foreign language and literature and various career and technical disciplines.

Here is the latest from Radio Iowa:

The state’s educators are sending an urgent message to state policymakers. Groups representing teachers, school administrators, Area Education Agencies and school boards organized a statehouse news conference this morning, asking legislators to quickly forward more state support to Iowa’s public K-through-12 schools.

By law, legislators and the governor are supposed to set the level of general state aid for public schools in early February, but Democrats have proposed a two percent increase, while Republicans say the state’s in bad financial shape and schools shouldn’t get any increase at all. The two sides can’t strike a compromise.

Brent Siegrist , executive director of the state’s nine Area Education Agencies, is a Republican who used to be Speaker of the Iowa House.

“It’s time to act,” Siegrist says. “You have thousands of educators out there, hanging in the wind out there, wondering if they’re going to get a pink slip.” Chris Bern of the Iowa State Education Association says the state teachers’ union estimates Iowa’s public schools will send pink slips to 15-hundred teachers and other school employees by the end of this school year.

“Cedar Rapids is eliminating 61 positions. Council Bluffs is eliminating 50. Iowa City is eliminating 60. Sioux City is eliminating 106 positions, which represents over 10 percent of their workforce,” Bern said. “And the list will continue to grow.” John Speer, superintendent of the Ballard Community School District, is a member of the School Administrators of Iowa.

“In Iowa, education and our children have always been our priority,” he says. “…We need to, in a bipartisan effort, work with schools, school boards, teachers, the governor and the legislature to make kids a priority again in Iowa.” Perry Schools Superintendent Lynn Ubben made a million dollars’ worth of cuts last year in the budget for her district and she predicts class sizes in elementary grades will swell and course offerings will diminish.

“It is our hope that the legislature and governor make the education of our Iowa children a priority,” Ubben said. Educators are urging the legislature to provide two percent more in general state aid to schools for the school year that starts this fall. Cedar Rapids Superintendent David Benson warned property owners in 277 school districts will see their taxes go up if the Republicans win this debate and schools get no additional money.

“As a flood-affected city still recovering from the devastating June, 2008 floods, our patrons are particularly sensitive to tax rate,” Benson said. Siegrist, the former Republican legislator who runs the state’s Area Education Agencies, says it appears to him there is room in a $6-billion state budget to provide about $55-million more for schools and cut taxes.

“It requires some tough decisions,” Siegrist says, “but they can do both.” According to Siegrist, there will be “dramatic” layoffs in the Area Education Agencies if there is no additional state aid for the coming school year.

For example, A.E.A. staff who work with children with special needs, like kids who have autism, may meet with that child once a week rather than twice a week, Siegrist estimates.

The allowable growth formula sets the amount of state and property tax dollars that funds school districts.  The growth is set by the legislature every year to provide a cost of living adjustment to schools.

Zero percent growth for our schools is simply inadequate.  It will increase class sizes and force consolidation in rural districts.  If Republicans can find $200 million to pay for tax breaks for the biggest corporations in Iowa, we can provide additional support for our schools.

Democrats  supported two percent instead of zero percent growth, the zero percent measure was approved by the Iowa House and now goes to the Senate, which prefers two percent. If zero percent growth becomes law, it would be the first time Iowa has ever provided no growth for our schools.

Iowa students continue to perform well on the SAT, the college entrance exam administered by the College Board. With three percent of 2010 graduating seniors taking the exam, the SAT is less predominant in Iowa than the ACT test.  Iowa students who take the SAT perform well, however, with the highest composite scores in the nation for reading, math and writing.

• 603 in critical reading, compared to a national mean score of 501;
• 613 in math, compared to a national mean score of 516;
• 582 in writing, compared to a national mean score of 492.

The 10-year change shows a 14-point increase in reading and 13-point increase in math. Decade information is not available for the writing test, which has been administered since 2006.

In 2008 the Iowa Legislature passed SF 2216 that boasted Iowa’s Core Curriculum by upping the standards of graduating high school students. Three years after the Legislature raised standards in schools to boost student achievement and ensure kids are prepared for jobs in today’s global economy, the Iowa Board of Education gave unanimous approval at their July 29th meeting to combine Iowa’s Core standards with a multi-state effort to develop a “Common Core” standard.

The Iowa Department of Education’s review of the new national model of education standards shows they are aligned with 88% of Iowa’s standards for math skills and concepts addressed in the Iowa Core. In literacy or English language arts, 84% of the skills and concepts addressed in the Iowa Core are also covered in the Common Core.

The Common Core State Standards were developed to be aligned with college and work expectations, to include rigorous content and skills, and to be internationally benchmarked. The Common Core State Standards initiative encompasses standards for English, language arts, and mathematics.

With House File 2432, the Department of Education, area education agencies and public and private colleges and universities will study opportunities to employ and keep racial and ethnic minority teachers in the classroom. The representatives will look at specific methods to encourage minority students to enter teaching at Iowa universities and to encourage them to become school administrators in Iowa.

Staff support to the study group will come from the Board of Regents. A report is expected to the General Assembly by Jan. 10, 2011.