The CRT, which superintendent Dr. Samantha Ingram had described as “a nine-week check-up instead of an autopsy” (see related story above) of student progress, counts towards 20% of the students’ grades. When the CRT was administered before Christmas break, students did not do so well on this test.
That concerned parents and school board members.
“Some of the concerns I’ve received were the teachers trained on this test, and did they actually teach the students the material that is being tested?” school board member Annie McDaniel said.
“Some of the parents saw that, because of that, the students did not do well on the CRT. Looking at one of the examples given, a student who had a quarter average of 80 and a CRT grade of 20, would have brought the student average down to 68,” she said.
Dr. Ingram said although the school curriculum is not aligned with the standards, the CRT tests on the state-mandated standards, and teachers should still be able to teach those standards.
McDaniel also commented that the results on the CRT might discourage good students who believe they are doing well.
“The parents’ situation is here’s a student who has been excelling in a classroom and doing well, and when that 205 (grade from the CRT) comes in and that child’ grade goes down, how are the students not going to be discouraged?”
Dr. Ingram said the students have already been negatively impacted, because “if a child has not learned those standards, that child is not prepared for the next grade level, and I can’t sit here and tell you that they are. We have negatively impacted many students,” she said.
“The question is, if a child has an A in class, and then fails (the CRT) what does that A reflect?”
The floor was opened up for questions, and one parent of students who had been doing well in class expressed her opinion: “I’m not agreeing with the CRT. I have three kids in Fairfield County; two of them are Number 2 and Number 3 in their class; one of them is a struggler. The one that is in the 11th grade, Number 3 in the class, scored a 52 on the CRT and my Number 2 student scored a 40 on the CRT.
“So if my two “smart kids” can’t even pass this test, so where does that leave my “struggler” who can’t pass this test. And you are saying these kids take this test and it’s 20% of their grade, and if they don’t pass it they’re going to be retained, for my child that’s Number 3 in her class, that’s going to knock her GPA.
“She took the SAT and scored 1650, but she can’t pass the CRT? Something is wrong with that,” she said.
Another parent had a question about the timing of when the CRT was given, before Christmas break.
“I know that the teachers were told they had to give the CRT in December because of fear that the students would forget what they had learned over Christmas break. First, if they’ve learned it, they’re not going to forget it. Second, how can you test children on standards that they have yet to be taught?”
Dr. Ingram responded that in cases where parents are finding that their students are not being taught the standards that they need to be taught to pass the CRT, the parents should meet with the school principal to make sure the student is getting the instruction they need.
The parent further commented that the nine week period did not end until late January, and yet, the CRT was given in December.
“The teachers did not have time to teach some of the standards that the students were being tested on,” she said.
A parent with a college-bound student was concerned on how his performance on the CRT would affect his GPA and ultimately, chances for a scholarship.
“My son in U.S. History has not studied any of (these standards;) on the CRT. He said that all they do in the class is write essays. How do you think that he’s going to pass this test when they aren’t teaching. And yet, the CRT is going to count as 20% of his grade, so his 3.0 GPA is going to drop down, and his way to college is over,” she said.
Another speaker said, “I agree the CRT is a good tool to use for assessment purposes, to find out what they have learned during the nine weeks, but I do not agree with you incorporating it into their grades this year, especially since we have heard the curriculum is not aligned. Until the curriculum is aligned, why incorporate the scores? Use it as an assessment tool to go back and make sure the students have learned what they need to, but do not include the CRT scores into the grades, if the curriculum is not aligned. It just doesn’t make sense.”
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