More about testing

To the editor: Those who would put stock in state-level proficiency tests need to read “The Proficiency Illusion,” a monograph published last week by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute (edexcellence.net/institute/global/index.cfm). Here’s the introductory blurb: “At the heart of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) is the call for all students to be “proficient” in reading and mathematics by 2014. Yet the law expects each state to define proficiency as it sees fit and design its own tests. This study compares state tests to benchmarks laid out by the Northwest Evaluation Association to evaluate proficiency cut scores for assessments in twenty-six states. The findings suggest that the tests states use to measure academic progress and student proficiency under the No Child Left Behind Act are creating a false impression of success, especially in reading and especially in the early grades.” Pennsylvania, for example, requires that only 40% of a school’s students achieve basic proficiency. It designs the tests and congratulates itself that schools pass them when they do. This is why school districts that look good after the PSSA look awful after the SAT, a nationwide, standardized test created by an independent third party. Who are we fooling? Only ourselves. Tony Splendora Milford