Test scores bring debate
by Bret Bradigan

There were no big surprises at Tuesday night's presentation on test scores at the Ojai Unified School District board meeting; Ojai students continue to outpace their peers in the state and nation.
But lively debate did ensue about the need for, and value of, testing.
Tim Baird, the district's assistant superintendent of curriculum, did note that Nordhoff High School scores "have seen a decline across the board," however slight. Don Humer, a school board candidate attending the meeting, asked if the decline was related to classroom sizes, saying that he had substitute taught English classes at the high school with 30 to 35 students. "The more kids in the class, the less instruction they get," he said.
Board member Bob Unruhe said, "There's way too much emphasis on testing in this district," and that Ojai's scores were a reflection of the city's relative affluence. "There's a high correlation between socio-economic status of the family and the test scores of the students."
"Teachers, the school board and students will stand up and say, 'Enough.' I think this time is arriving."
Baird agreed that testing takes too much time and attention away from instruction. He said there's a saying making the rounds in education circles, "A farmer doesn't make his cow any fatter by weighing it more often."
Superintendent Van Riley said that while testing does "take time out of instruction, there's a balance there ... Parents, teachers, students have a right to know. It's real important to assess where we are. Throwing out testing is not the answer."
Baird explained that "normed" test results cause confusion, with people looking at the results and thinking that, for instance, Nordhoff's 63 percent in science scores meant that the school received an "F" on the test, when, in fact, Nordhoff outpaced all but 37 percent of their peers. The norms are set with questions calibrated to be answered correctly 50 percent, and answered incorrectly 50 percent. These norms are set by testing a representative sample of students, and they are then used for several years.

© 2002 The Ojai Valley News

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