by Donna Iadipaolo
JEFF GAYNOR IS what you might call the epitome of a veteran teacher. Gaynor has worked for the Ann Arbor Public Schools for more than 30 years: 20 years as an elementary teacher and the last 17 years at Clague Middle School. To say the least, he knows something about education.
Recently, one of the most discussed topics in K-12 education in Ann Arbor, as well as throughout the State of Michigan, has been the new Michigan Student Test of Educational Progress (M-STEP) test that this year replaces the Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP). The MEAP has been used in Michigan for 44 years. Initiated this spring, the M-STEP now tests students every year from grades three to eight.
The test was changed from the MEAP largely because authorities say the MEAP was focused solely on the State of Michigan standards and the M-STEP also includes material focused on the Common Core, which are national standards.
Data Recognition Corporation and Measurement Inc. are the two private companies that produce M-STEP. Michigan has awarded a three-year, $103.7 million contract to the companies for the future M-STEP process, beginning with the 2015-2016 school year.
However, according to Jeff Gaynor, as well as other sources, there are major problems with M-STEP:
1) The tests generally do not tell teachers anything useful that they don’t already know.
2) Test results are used more for political purposes than for educational ones.
3) Individual tests are too long and the time it takes for the whole school, teachers, and administrators is too much.
Gaynor believes that teachers remain the best resources for assessing students’ progress, more than a once-a-year test. He suggests that the test takes away time, resources, and energy from teachers’ and students’ regular, planned learning time, and places a greater emphasis on the role of privatized companies in the educational process. He also argues that students and teachers now spend too much time testing and preparing for the test material, as well as on test-taking strategies rather than partaking in more valuable and authentic educational endeavors, such as project-based learning, interdisciplinary activities, and deep-dive topics.
The M-STEP does have some positive aspects, according to Gaynor, such as more open-ended sections that may help drive better instruction.
“There’s still too much multiple choice—a format which restricts the idea of what learning should be,” said Gaynor.
However, the open-ended questions on the M-STEP also require more time.
“Tests are longer for each student due to the open-ended sections—essays, particularly,” said Gaynor. “At the Middle School, students in 7th grade had eight sessions for three subjects, each one to three hours long, and this was typical for grades 6 and 8 as well.”
Critics say asking a 6th grader to take a test for three hours — more time if technical glitches arise, may also be counter-productive to an educational activity, and even induce test anxiety.
Furthermore, unlike the MEAP the M-STEP is entirely online.
“For online assessment, all of our computer labs were blocked off for testing for each grade for two weeks each, which, plus make-up days, made the labs unavailable for classes for about seven weeks,” said Gaynor.
Another major problem with the M-STEP was the number of reported technical problems while students took the test.
“On an average day, each class of students had five to ten times when a student had to reboot and continue their test,” said Gaynor. “This often involved moving to another computer. Occasionally, students had to wait 15 minutes for the system to reset.”
There have been other reports that students had to wait up to 30 minutes or longer because of technical problems with M-STEP.
Many of these reasons, as well as others, have led parents in Ann Arbor, and across the state to opt-out their children from taking the M-STEP this year.
“I know there is an opt-out movement for standardized tests across the country,” said Gaynor. “I know less about how strong it is in Michigan, though there is an active Facebook page where parents support opting out. There are only a few parents opting their students out at my school. There is a large group of parents opting out at Ann Arbor Open at Mack, as well as at Community High School.”
One national organization offering up information for parents to opt out of standardized test is “FairTest: The National Center for Fair and Open Testing,” which has representatives in almost every state, including Michigan.
In Ann Arbor, about 100 parents at Ann Arbor Open chose to have their students opt out of taking the M-STEP.
Gaynor suggested that most parents may not have the impression from school materials that they even have the ability to opt out of the test. He added that all information given to the parents from the district gives the feeling that testing is mandatory.
Furthermore, the AAPS Board of Education (BOE) has considered a policy that would allow them to remove students from non-neighborhood schools if parents opt them out.
After the most recent BOE meeting, members suggested that testing is mandatory, but removed specific punishment language from a policy adopted to address families who wish to opt out their children from M-STEP.
The current policy states, “Failure to participate in all state and federal assessments will result in the Board taking any additional actions deemed appropriate to protect the district.”
“I believe parents should be able to opt their child out,” said Gaynor. “I believe we are all being trained, manipulated and/or pressured to be sheep—to do what we’re told—and successfully so. This goes for people at every level of education—administration, teachers, parents, and students. I admire and support those who stand up, who oppose rigid, politically motivated, educationally unsound practices. I abhor the state edicts that mandate 95 percent participation, and attaches punitive consequences that are counterproductive to learning, and I am disappointed that the school system abides by and supports this policy.”
Gaynor does see the use of limited testing.
“Teachers assess their students continually in an authentic manner— helpful to guide instruction and helpful for students to guide their own learning,” said Gaynor. “When I taught at the Open School (1996-2006), I welcomed the one annual, relatively short, MEAP test because we did not do much formal testing, and this did give us a baseline.”
The difference now, according to Gaynor, is that there are too many tests and too often.
“Now, with the added NWEA testing at elementary, the added Common Assessments at Middle School, and the higher stakes with high school testing, it not only takes away from learning time, but it distorts what learning should be about,” said Gaynor. “With so much focus on multiple choice formats and hundreds of discreet skills, teaching and learning is getting fragmented….Learning becomes less intrinsic, and fewer connections and extensions are supported; there is more focus on grade level skills rather than teaching to the abilities and interests of individual students.”
State Rep. Jeff Irwin (D-Ann Arbor) said: “Educators, parents and especially students are rightly concerned about the explosion of testing in recent years. Unfortunately, in Lansing, assessment has become a substitute for addressing the real problems in education.”
Much of the testing takes away the educational authority of the teachers as well, according to Gaynor.
“This level of testing is a political tool,” said Gaynor. Who can be against ‘No Child Left Behind’ — the concept, not the government policies—or identifying strengths and weaknesses? The over-testing trend is also part of an overall strategy to attack public schools, unions, and in part, an attempt to privatize, or ‘profitize,’ education.”
There have been much criticism, for instance, of lucrative yearly contracts given to testing agencies for the increased testing.
Gaynor does, however, see the Common Core (to which M-STEP is linked) as a positive change in terms of standards.
“As to the Common Core (CC), first, I find the CC standards and curriculum are an improvement over the total focus on Grade Level Content Expectations (GLCE’s) which controlled teaching in Michigan for several years,” said Gaynor. “Common Core is more developmentally appropriate and incorporates a broader and richer philosophy and set of instructional strategies.”
Yet, there are problematic issues association with Common Core, as well.
“There are two issues with Common Core, said Gaynor. “First, the phrase is a code word for whatever critics want to attack. More practically, the Common Core resources available to teachers are so vast and voluminous that few teachers can adequately read, process, and incorporate them all.”
Christine Stead is a parent of two that attend the Ann Arbor Public Schools. She is also the current Vice President of the Board of Education. Many would agree that Stead, like Gaynor, has a vested interest in the quality of the AAPS’s education.
Stead confirmed that the AAPS Board of Education (BOE) is contemplating ways that would encourage parents with students enrolled in our non-traditional schools/programs to commit to AAPS testing requirements.
“Students that decide to opt out may not be allowed to continue in those programs,” said Stead.
Stead said that a large number of students not taking the M-STEP could result in negative repercussions for the district.
“There were approximately 120 students that opted out of the M-STEP, which is not many in the grand scheme of 16,800 students; however, they were highly concentrated at one of our lottery-based programs, (like) Ann Arbor Open,” said Stead. “Unfortunately, the way the state scores the tests means that each student that opted out will be counted as having scored a ‘0.’ We anticipate that Ann Arbor Open will be designated a failing school by the state, as a result of this kind of performance. It certainly will likely be our lowest-performing school.”
Yet, Stead acknowledges that the M-STEP has been plagued with problems with which parents and teachers are legitimately concerned, but that these problems will be improved upon.
“There have been several problems that I am aware of in terms of technical glitches, requiring computers/devices to be hardwired to a T Line, et… cetera,” said Stead. “There were also logistical challenges, which our building administrators and teachers did a lot of work to plan for; however, more lessons will emerge as a result of this first year’s experience.”
Trustee Stead also said that the new M-STEP also has engendered more controversy because of the Common Core debate.
“The State had an opportunity to align itself with national standards,” said Stead. “Instead, it decided to create its own test—which is another new test that doesn’t align with a national standard. The other issue seems to be this national political movement with some in education that feel that there is a profit motive in some of the testing companies that may be exerting influence on legislators to require tests such as this, therefore ensuring business for themselves which, of course, is a conflict of interest. While I’m am not sure how much evidence exists in terms of direct campaign donations, et… cetera, there certainly is a political context to this.”
Stead also appears highly informed and sympathetic to the pedagogical issues relating to the testing.
“Teachers believe that the M-STEP and the MEAP take away from time that would otherwise be spent educating students,” said Stead. “They also may feel pressure to dedicate teaching time to help students prepare for actually taking the test and making sure they know the content, although much of this concern is removed with the test being issued in spring versus fall as the MEAP was. Lastly, I believe that teachers worry that they will be evaluated solely on test results, which has never been proposed as a sole means of evaluation. Students may perform quite differently on tests; some of that may not have anything to do with how well a teacher actually teachers material.”
According to Stead, No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and Michigan’s waiver submissions require 95 percent of students to be tested in order to demonstrate adequate yearly progress (AYP).
“They are particularly interested in all subgroups taking the tests so that districts aren’t excluding certain student subgroups in order to make their performance look better than it is,” said Stead with regard to these requirements. “The law requires districts to do this in order to receive federal funds, Title 1 grants, for example; states use the same law for additional funding and/or sanctions as part of their NCLP waivers. Michigan introduced both a focus and reward school system as well as a color-coding system to designate failing schools. There are levels of requirements for districts that fail to meet AYP. The data also is shown statewide, which is used by a variety of other groups and individuals to make decisions about how good a school is.”
She added that the district is playing a role in making improvements to the test.
“AAPS is submitting our experience with the M-STEP based on feedback from our teachers to MDE in hopes of improving the process for next year,” said Stead.
She added that the problem of over-testing might actually be less of a problem with the M-STEP.
“There is less of an issue of teachers teaching toward the test than previously when we had MEAP issued in the fall, as they felt compelled to compensate for the summer learning loss that might have occurred and to ensure a comfort level with the test itself,” said Stead. “Since this is the first year of M-STEP, there also wasn’t much teaching to the test. There is a concern that there are standardized tests that are serving several different purposes and it would be better to have them all aligned at the state and federal level.”
In conclusion, Stead added that student performance data are important.
“Finding the right set of tests that are actionable and nationally relevant for teachers, students and families that provide feedback in a timely way for everyone to work toward improvements, can be a powerful factor in helping improve success for our students,” said Stead. “Most students will find that many other parts of their lives require testing—for college, graduate school, certifications, et… cetera. Developing a confidence for test-taking can be a good thing. Developing individualized learning plans and differentiated instruction can be a good thing. Demonstrating great progress over the course of a year can be a great thing for teachers, students, families and the community. There are many important good things that can come from testing. It’s the coordination and practicality of these ideals that are difficult to achieve when tests are requirements and funding and/or performance data (or both) are tied to them.”
Stead said the District is subject to a complex network of state and federal requirements with which it must also comply.
“The AAPS, as a public school, is required to give the tests that the state and federal government require,” said Stead. “That doesn’t mean that we won’t push for change. But it does mean that we want to do this in a way that doesn’t harm our District. Finding that right balance and activism is important in Ann Arbor, as it is in many places like our community.”
Stead added that the Board is committed to working with the entire community, especially teachers and parents, with regard to this and other issues.
“We are very interested in working together to push for change, while also working hard to protect our District from the kind of sanctions and consequences we have come to expect and live with in other aspects of our work: focus schools, color-coding, et… cetera,” said Stead.
She added: “Regardless of what message might have accompanied this first year of M-STEP testing, to tell our parents that there would be no bad consequences, as we look ahead, we anticipate only more accountability measures—partly due to the GOP-controlled federal and state legislatures that currently govern our public education system.”