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Education
School Standards and Testing

With the implementation of the ABCs of Public Education, the Excellent Schools Act, charter school legislation, and other reforms, North Carolina lawmakers have put education at the top of the priority list. But even after some recent progress, repeated problems with the state testing program and disappointing performance from our high school students suggest that more fundamental changes are needed.

Improvement — to Mediocrity

In 1996, the General Assembly approved the State Board of Education’s plan for a school-based management and accountability program called the ABCs. The program began with end-of-grade reading and mathematics tests for grades 3-8 and a writing test at grades 4 and 7. In 1998, the state added end-of-course mathematics, English, science, and social studies tests for grades 9-12. Most recently, the state added an 8th grade computer skills test in 2001 and a 10th grade writing test in 2002. In sum, North Carolina has one of the oldest and most comprehensive testing programs of any U.S. state.

Although the ABCs testing program reflects the state’s commitment to statewide testing and test reporting, the tests do not adequately assess student achievement. State education officials were embarrassed in 2001 to discover their new math tests were absurdly easy to pass — a product of poor judgment and a flawed system of field-testing. In addition, statistical problems with the 6th grade reading scores in 2004 and 2005 prompted the State Board of Education to change the growth formulas it uses to predict the performance of students from one grade to the next. Thus, the ABCs model can only be considered a starting point from which to pursue reform.

Testing Concerns

The problems go far beyond those episodes. To achieve “grade level,” students often need not get even half the questions right, so they can expect to pass simply through educated guessing. Students at every grade level are permitted to use calculators on nearly all state-administered mathematics tests, minimizing their need to apply basic computation skills. State writing tests use a more lenient scale to assess spelling and grammar than they do to assess content. And while both state tests and the well-respected National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) use four levels of achievement, the performance necessary to earn Level 3 on state tests is lower than it is for the NAEP’s Level 2. In other words, North Carolina’s expectations are too low (see chart, "NAEP 8th Grade Average Scale Scores").

A related concern is that state testing results don’t square with scores on independent national tests. For example, North Carolina’s own tests show a significant improvement in reading achievement since the mid-1990s, but NAEP results show a small decline for 4th graders (from 30 percent proficient in 1994 to 29 percent in 2005) and a substantial decline for 8th-graders (from 31 percent in 1998 to 27 percent in 2005). On the other hand, North Carolina has clearly made significant progress in mathematics performance. In NAEP testing, grade-level competency in mathematics increased from 21 percent in 1996 to 40 percent in 2005 among 4th-graders and from 20 percent to 32 percent among 8th-graders. If our students are going to be globally competitive, we must do a much better job producing graduates that are proficient in reading and mathematics.

Despite some signs of improvement, our public schools still have a long way to go. The final outcome of public education is measured in high-school performance, and it remains disappointing. Our high-school graduation rate has been falling for years and is now only about 65 percent. If our average performance is mediocre, the situation faced by our minority students can rightly be called a crisis. Among 4th graders, 34 percent of black students and 20 percent of Hispanics lack basic math skills, while 59 percent of blacks and 54 percent of Hispanics lack basic reading skills. By the 8th grade, 47 percent of black students and 41 percent of Hispanics lack basic math skills, and 51 percent of blacks and 43 percent of Hispanics lack basic reading skills.

One study found that only 42 percent of black males graduate from North Carolina high schools.

Teacher Standards

State education leaders tout teacher testing and certification requirements as the way to maintain high standards for public school teachers and improve student performance. But study after study shows that these factors do not guarantee good teachers.

For certification, teachers in North Carolina are required to pass one or more Praxis tests that evaluate a teacher’s knowledge of subject-area content and pedagogy. Nevertheless, the scores required to pass individual Praxis tests are lower than nationwide median scores and are among the lowest in the Southeast. Despite the fact that the state granted certification or licensure to nearly 85 percent of the teacher workforce, there is no evidence that the process has separated the wheat from the chaff.

Furthermore, the state urges teachers to participate in the National Board Certification program as a way to improve student achievement. As this certification process exists today, the required portfolio of student work, videotapes of teaching, and “reflective” essays says little about a teacher’s potential deficiencies, such as poor knowledge of the subject matter.

Studies that assess the relationship between national board certification and student achievement show mixed results across student subgroups and ability levels. Although there appear to be no instructional gains for teachers and no consistent academic gains for students, the incentives for teachers to pursue certification are too good to pass up. Teachers receive full payment of the assessment fee, paid leave, continuing education credits, and a 12-percent pay increase for 10 years.

Recommendations

1. The state’s end-of-year and end-of-course tests should be replaced with an independent, field-tested, and credible national test of student performance, such as the Iowa Test of Basic Skills. North Carolina should also set an intermediate goal of at least half of students showing proficiency and 90 percent testing at the “basic” level as defined by reputable national tests such as the National Assessment of Educational Progress.
2. In addition to measuring, reporting, and rewarding overall growth in school test scores, the state and local school districts should reward individual teachers based on the value they add to the performance of their students.
3. State policymakers should deregulate and decentralize public schools — while maintaining accountability for results — by abolishing teacher tenure and rigid certification rules and also by giving districts more flexibility in spending existing dollars.

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