"Is that your final answer?": What's allowed during standardized testing in Oregon, and what's not
Education Northwest analyzed test scores and procedures at King School after the Northeast Portland building saw huge swings in test scores from year to year. (Faith Cathcart/The Oregonian)
Portland Public Schools last week released an Education Northwest report delving into a spike in state test scores at King School in 2012. The examination, based on interviews with school staff, documented testing practices teachers said they believed appropriate at the time.
Neither the initial Portland Public Schools investigation nor the new Education Northwest report concluded that practices employed at King constituted irregularities.
We compared the test practices described at King with what’s prescribed by testing experts andwritten in the Oregon Department of Education’s testing manuals. We spoke to: Joe Suggs, Portland Public Schools’ director of research, evaluation and assessment; Crystal Greene, an Oregon Department of Education spokeswoman; and Jim Wollack, director of testing and evaluation services at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
The issue has wider significance as standardized testing becomes more and more central to rating schools and teachers. Testing security experts say officials need to standardize testing protocols so students aren’t given unfair advantages.
In some cases, the practices at King appeared to follow what’s recommended. In others, they deviated substantially. Here’s what we found:
From the report: “One interviewee also noted adults could ask students, ‘Is that "Is that your final answer?": What's allowed during standardized testing in Oregon, and what's not | OregonLive.com:
Prompting of NE Portland students during standardized testing was at odds with Oregon guidelines
The kind of help offered at King School flies in the face of instructions from the Oregon Department Education's own testing manual.
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