The Alabama State Report Card Prototype was released Jan. 11, 2018, from the Alabama State Department of Education to the Alabama State Board of Education. According to the Alabama State Department of Education website, 'the letter grade is just one of the data points that gives an indication of whether or not students are meeting or exceeding expectations.' More information on the Alabama Report Card Prototype can be found at http://www.alsde.edu/.
Escambia County High School in Atmore scored a letter grade of 'F' using this system, which is based on a new test that assesses academic ability in reading, mathematics and science.
“There are two main problems with the test that was used to determine this letter grade,” said Escambia County (Ala.) School Superintendent John Knott. “First, this is an assessment that is supposed to determine how well students are on a path toward the ACT test. The second problem is that the grade is based on a bell curve, and not raw scores. Students are being compared to other students, instead of their own progress.”
Knott said he feels like this is a setback for the accuracy of reporting educational progress for the school systems across the state.
“We are taking a step back to the archaic way of assessing in education,” he said.
Knott says that the holistic impact of a school on a student cannot be measured in one test like this one and that the letter grade system the state has chosen is 'disheartening'. He says that poverty is prevalent in the area and students' home environment can impact their performance as well.
“This testing is aimed at students' academic performance only, and doesn't consider that their character, work ethic, teamwork participation, extracurricular engagement, and many other factors are involved in making them college or career ready,” said Knott. “The fact is 80 percent of students will not complete a four-year education, so this new system of state report card is reporting on 20 percent of the student population. Testing and academics is only a part of their total education. It's a poor model for true assessment of our students”
The superintendent says he feels that Alabama has a revenue-based problem. He states that Alabama spends $7,600 per student per year when the national average is $12,000 per student per year.
That average includes everything from maintenance of the buildings to after-school programs, not just on materials and classroom activities.
“What we do with the amount of money we get is phenomenal,” said Knott. “We have great teachers. They work hard and they are personally committed and embraced in our school system. Yes, our main goal is to educate, but we provide health services, counseling, extended day type activities, social skill building and even barriers from inappropriate social media interactions, plus numerous other important services, especially in the face of increased dangers, such as the presences of a higher incidences of sexual predators today.”
Knott says he feels confident that in spite of the poor score from what he deems a flawed grading system the state is embracing, the parents who stay involved will know the good things the schools are doing and what is going on.
“I think we're going to be okay,” he said. “Our schools will be consistently performing better.”
