Compass Point
A Weekly Collection of Data, Articles and Insights from the Commonwealth Educational Policy Institute
A project of the Virginia Commonwealth University's Center for Public Policy
L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs
CEPI in the News
Education Editorial: Standardized tests and cheating
NBC 12
(July 27, 2014)

Cheating On SOL Tests

1140 WRVA
(July 25, 2014)

Some Central Virginia teachers, principals cheating on SOL tests
CBS 6 WTVR
(July 23, 2014)
Articles of Interest
State & Local Policy

State Council of Higher Education for Virginia joins distance learning agreement to ease online class enrollment
Associated Press
July 24, 2014
Virginia higher education officials are working to make it easier for students to take online classes and for universities to offer them.

The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia voted this week to join a multi-state reciprocity agreement that deals with authorization and payment for distance learning courses.

Park hosts teachers from across Virginia
The Roanoke Times
July 29, 2014

Booker T. Washington National Monument on July 22 welcomed 15 teachers from across the commonwealth to sample educational programs the park offers throughout the year.

The park staff recently updated the educational programs to reflect changes in Virginia’s Standards of Learning and the Common Core curriculum. The Virginia teachers received an overview of the park’s Monumental Education program by taking ranger-led tours, including living history, story board and farm stories and a hands-on open hearth cooking activity.

Virginia Tech's student athletics fee by far state's lowest
Daily Press
July 28, 2014

New Virginia Tech president Tim Sands’ assertion last week that the school’s mandatory student fee for athletics is the lowest among state public institutions is not only correct but also understated.

According to a December report by the state’s Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, Tech’s 2012-13 athletics fee of $267 was less than half that of any other state school — George Mason had the second-lowest at $577 — and more than 75 percent below the average of $1,185.

Federal Policy

Why Do Americans Stink at Math?
The New York Times Magazine, July 23 2014

When Akihiko Takahashi was a junior in college in 1978, he was like most of the other students at his university in suburban Tokyo. He had a vague sense of wanting to accomplish something but no clue what that something should be. But that spring he met a man who would become his mentor, and this relationship set the course of his entire career.

Takeshi Matsuyama was an elementary-school teacher, but like a small number of instructors in Japan, he taught not just young children but also college students who wanted to become teachers. At the university-affiliated elementary school where Matsuyama taught, he turned his classroom into a kind of laboratory, concocting and trying out new teaching ideas. When Takahashi met him, Matsuyama was in the middle of his boldest experiment yet — revolutionizing the way students learned math by radically changing the way teachers taught it.

Special education law in need of an overhaul
The Hill
July 28, 2014

By the time the 113th Congress winds down, lawmakers will have passed precisely one (the Workforce Investment Act) of more than half a dozen pieces of education legislation overdue for reauthorization. Languishing on that list for the last few years has been the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which guarantees students with disabilities the right to an education and promises states some money with which to pay for that education.
Testing, while long a staple of the educational experience, recently has come in for significant critique from a number of directions, including:
But amidst these debates there also has been a steady stream of stories about teachers and administrators cheating in order to increase the test scores of their students and schools.  Many will remember a cheating scandal in Atlanta that sent the system's superintendent to prison.  The Atlanta Journal Constitution also did a national investigation on such cheating. 

Dr. Bosher was recently asked to comment on the issue for stories by CBS 6 and 1140 WRVA after a report highlighted cheating in the Central Virginia area. He shared his thoughts in greater depth in his weekly editorial for NBC 12

One of the underlying assumptions in this is that increased pressure to perform well on standardized tests may lead some individuals to take shortcuts and cheat.  In keeping with the theme this week's poll snapshot looks at opinion among Virginians about whether the SOLs, our version of standardized tests here in Virginia, puts too much pressure on students. 

We also reveiw legislation that passed in 2014 regarding SOLs in Virginia as lawmakers sought to rein in the number of tests.

And if all this talk of tests when it's only the end of July has you tensing up, check out these tips for kids to relax prior to taking a test. 

Sincerely,
CEPI
Poll Snapshot:  SOL tests - Too much pressure?
In our most recent poll, we asked a series of questions about the SOL tests here in Virginia.  As noted in the full report on the poll, Virginians saw both positives and negatives about the SOLs.  The slide below focuses on two of the perceived negatives of the SOLs - the lack of enough time to cover important material and whether the SOLs put too much pressure on students.  Here we'll do a deeper dive into the "pressure" question as many of the recent articles on cheating around standardized tests assume that pressure felt by teachers to have students perform well may increase the likelihood of cheating.

As can be seen, 63% of Virginians either strongly or somewhat agreed that the SOLs put too much pressure on students.  33% disagreed either strongly or somewhat.  However, these are basically unchanged from the results of our 2002 poll when 61% agreed there was too much pressure and 32% disagreed.

























Looking at the breakdowns by region, people in Northern Virginia were least concerned about pressure on students while Northwest and Western portions of the state were more concerned:

  • Northern Virginia - 53% agreeing and 40% disagreeing 
  • Northwest - 71% agree, 25% disagree
  • West - 70% agree, 27% disagree 
  • South Central - 64% agree, 33% disagree
  • Tidewater - 64% agree, 30% disagree

Still its important to remember that a majority from all regions felt there was too much pressure.

Given the polarized political climate in the U.S. and the commonwealth, it's also worth noting that concerns about pressure on students is bipartisan:  67% of self-identified Democrats and 66% of self-identified Republicans agreed that there is too much pressure.  In contrast, only 49% of political independents agreed (though 36% did so strongly) while 44% disagreed somewhat (23%) or strongly (21%).  This provides some insight into why legislation reducing the number of tests was successful in the spring legislative session when much else was tied up in partisan battle.  

(To read the full results of the poll, visit our website. Question 11b is the question cited above - topline results are on page 31; crosstabs are on page 52.)

SOL Related Legislation from 2014
Excerpted from CEPI's Legislative Update - Final Approved Legislation

In keeping with our focus on SOLs, here is a listing of legislation passed in 2014 that mandated changes to SOL testing practices.

"HB 930 (Greason) and SB 306 (Deeds) stipulate that Standards of Learning (SOL) assessments administered in grades three through eight not exceed (a) reading and mathematics in grades three and four; (b) reading, mathematics and science in grade five; (c) reading and mathematics in grades six and seven; (d) reading, writing, mathematics and science in grade eight; and (e) Virginia Studies and Civics and Economics once each at the grade levels deemed appropriate by each local school board. Each school board shall annually certify that it has provided instruction and administered an alternative assessment, consistent with Board of Education (BOE) guidelines, to students in SOL subject areas in which an SOL test was not administered. The bills also include provisions for an SOL Innovation Committee, consisting of legislators and education stakeholders, to periodically make recommendations to the BOE and General Assembly on the SOL tests; student growth measures; alignment between the SOL, assessments and the School Performance Report Card; and ideas on innovative classroom teaching.

SB 270 (Miller) directs the BOE to require only math and English reading SOL assessments for third graders."

To read the full update, visit our website.