Editorial: Testing doesn't pass fairness test

Posted: August 23, 2014 -
6:46pm

Amarillo Globe-News

With respect to legendary rocker Alice Cooper and his classic ode to the freedom of summer — “School’s Out” — there are plenty of reasons for a “teacher’s dirty looks.”

Fairness — if not logic — in the public education state testing system would help alleviate a teacher’s frown, and provide a more accurate picture of public education.

Summer unofficially ends Monday for students in Amarillo Independent School District and districts across the state.

In other words, school starts. And with the start of school, those dreaded and government-mandated state tests are not far behind, unfortunately.

State testing long ago replaced grades and report cards as the be-all, end-all barometer of student and school achievement. And this is not necessarily progress.

However, with illegal immigration a hot topic, especially in Texas, it is worth combining these two issues — student testing and immigration (not only illegal immigration) — into questions of fairness and logic.

Earlier this month, Amarillo ISD touted accountability ratings from the Texas Education Agency — and deservedly so.
Amarillo ISD’s four-year graduation rate increased to a high of 90 percent, two points above the state average.

Impressively, the district increased its graduation rate by 15 percentage points from only five years ago. In addition, all 52 Amarillo ISD campuses met state standards.

While this is great news, reaching these goals was not easy, and will not get easier.

Why? Immigration — legal and illegal.

When students cannot speak the prevalent language, this places an unfair burden on the public education system when it comes to student testing, and this must be recognized by government.

The Department of Education had a news release in May with the headline: “Secretary Duncan and Attorney General Holder Issue Guidance for School Districts to Ensure Equal Access for All Children to Public Schools, Regardless of Immigration Status.”

The release detailed “updated guidance to assist public elementary and secondary schools to ensure enrollment processes are consistent with the law and fulfill their obligation to provide all children — no matter their background — equal access to an education.” Included was a quote from U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder: “Public school districts have an obligation to enroll students regardless of immigration status.”

Regarding illegal immigration, there have been have been reports that the thousands of illegal immigrant children who have come across the U.S. southern border in the past few months will not be allowed to attend public schools, at least not in the near future. However, according to an Associated Press article in Jun, “Thousands of immigrant children fleeing poverty and violence in Central America to cross alone into the United States can live in American cities, attend public schools and possibly work here for years without consequences.”

Either way, it is highly unlikely that the thousands of illegal immigrant children that will stay in America will not attend public schools.

But back to the issue at hand — student testing.

Public schools are judged by student test scores, fairly or not. And when multiple languages are present within a district’s student population (because of immigration), this has a negative impact on the testing process. To ignore this is naive and unfair to schools as well as students.

“In regards to our refugee population, we appreciate the diversity they bring, but the language deficiency for those students is a big challenge,” Amarillo ISD Superintendent Rod Schroder said in the news release about the district’s strong accountability ratings. “Regardless of those difficulties, as we move into another school year, I want our district to be all about improvement.”

It is troubling for the federal government to be unable to address the problem of illegal immigration, and at the same time enforce a stringent student testing process that fails to consider the impact of immigration on the public school system.

http://amarillo.com/opinion/editorial/2014-08-23/editorial-testing-doesnt-pass-fairness-test