Published Sunday, June 28, 2009

Lots riding on CRCT for students, schools and school system

By Winston Skinner

The Times-Herald

At 13, Taylor Horton is experienced at taking Criterion Referenced Competency Tests.

"I'm stressed a lot," said the rising eighth-grader, recalling the week of CRCT testing each year. She said she knows she is going to do all right on the test each year. Still, the test is such a prominent part of school life that getting a little nervous is just part of the process.

"Everybody talks about it," Horton said.

Third-graders must post a set reading score on the CRCT to be promoted to fourth grade. Eighth-grade CRCT scores in both English and math are examined before the student can proceed to high school. There are appeals processes that can allow students to move to the next grade even without what the state deems an adequate score on the test.

Schools and school systems also are evaluated with the CRCT. Scores from the tests are used in determining Adequate Yearly Progress for Georgia schools as part of the federal No Child Left Behind Act. AYP rankings can also examine scores within certain groups such as male or female, racial categories or students who are served by special education or have a primary language other than English.

The pressure to do well on the test is felt by public school educators everywhere in Georgia. Two DeKalb educators were arrested earlier this month and charged with altering CRCT materials to falsely inflate scores.

James Berry, former principal at Atherton Elementary School, was arrested June 19 at his home. Doretha Alexander, assistant principal at the school, turned herself in to police on the evening of June 18 and was later released on bond.

They face charges of altering public documents. The arrests of Alexander and Berry followed an audit that found a high number of eraser marks on tests from four Georgia schools, including Atherton. State officials told Associated Press the higher scores helped the schools meet federal standards.

"We don't think kids cheated," Kathleen Mathers, head of the Governor's Office of Student Achievement, told AP. "We think kids got cheated."

Christi Hildebrand, who was coordinator of testing and school improvement for the Coweta County School System this past school term, said the test results must be accurate to be of value. She also said the Coweta County School System takes rules about test security extremely seriously.

"We're very careful about everything," said Hildebrand, who is now principal of Elm Street Elementary School. "We spend a lot of time training and talking about the importance of test security."

At each school, specific certified individuals -- generally, counselors or assistant principals -- are responsible for CRCT materials. The materials are kept in a room that only that person can access, and they are counted as they are signed in and out.

Everybody involved with administering the test is reminded not to read the test. Teachers and administrators are not supposed to read test questions. "It's very important everybody understand that," Hildebrand said.

Even though she was in charge of the county system's testing last year, Hildebrand said she does not know the specifics about any question on any of the grade level CRCTs.

This past school year, 13,522 students -- everybody in grades 1-8 -- took the CRCT in Coweta County. The test is given in subject area segments. Each segment has two parts of 70 minutes each, with a break between the two parts.

Students took the reading test on a Monday, followed by English and language arts on Tuesday, mathematics on Wednesday, science on Thursday and social studies on Friday.

Teachers are not allowed to review material on the subject area of the test for the day. That rule helps remove the temptation to look at -- and teach -- the test. The policy also avoids the appearance that someone may have examined the test questions in advance.

"We don't even want the appearance of any impropriety," Hildebrand emphasized.

Having overseen the testing process, Hildebrand acknowledged CRCT week can be tough. "Students really feel the stress," she said.

Horton, who will be an eighth-grader at East Coweta Middle School this coming school year, has an older brother and two younger sisters. Their mother, Lisa Lail, agreed that the week of CRCT testing is a challenge for their entire household.

"That week is very stressful for me," Lail said. "They all worry about it so much."

Hildebrand said the school system tries to strike a balance between being too casual and stoking anxieties. "This absolutely is important," she said. "This is important, but it's just one piece of the puzzle."

The school system wants students to not take a lackadaisical approach to the test. Putting "forth their best effort" is the goal, she said.

Still, there are many different factors that gauge student achievement. Hildebrand said teachers and staff try to remind students that there are other measures of what they have done -- classwork, tests and yearlong grades. "We're here working with you all year," she said.

The CRCT has its critics. Jeff Hubbard, president of the Georgia Association of Educators, wrote an open letter calling for "a comprehensive review of all Georgia standardized tests" to make sure tests align with the new Georgia Performance Standards curriculum. Hubbard also recommended "an annual review process of every test and subject curriculum -- for all grade levels -- that solicits and acts upon teacher input."

Hubbard said the goal is test validity -- making sure the CRCT and others tests match "the curriculum being taught in our classrooms" and making sure all school systems "are on the same page with regard to preparation and implementation." For the forseeable future, the CRCT will be part of school life for Georgia students.

"I can't say any of us enjoy the pressure of a high stakes test situation," Hildebrand said, but the point of the testing is to gain some insight into how students are learning. To manipulate the test process means "the data is not meaningful," she said.

"We are people of integrity," she said. Hildebrand said the focus on being truthful and honest about the process -- and getting accurate results -- is in some ways a reflection of the ethos in Coweta County. "Doing what's right" is important in Newnan and Coweta, she said.