Remember the Common Core SBAC test that was given to students in Seattle during the month of April and May, the test that was sooo important for students to take, the test that certain school administrators threatened, coerced and embarrassed students into taking, that SBAC test? Well, parents and students have yet to see the results of the test.
So then the question is, why haven’t the results been published? Does OSPI or our superintendent hope we’ll forget about the test? That it will be just a vague and very bad memory when precious class time was lost and millions of dollars spent on a test that is of no value to teachers or their students? Even if and when we see the results, will it matter? Teachers, students and parents cannot see the questions or the answers.
Is it because the results were so bad that a narrative is being created by the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction OSPI/Bill Gates (Bill Gates has provided OSPI with $14M in grants since 2009)? We know that the Common Core Standards test results in other states were so low that parents began to question the test’s validity.
Or does it just take this long for the tests to be reviewed and graded by a computer?
Inquiring minds want to know.
And by the way, is it OK for Bill Gates to be feeding millions to our Office of Public Instruction? It’s a governmental agency, paid for by our tax dollars and seemingly run by one individual who is not an employee of the state.
Dora Taylor
Post Script:
The day after I posted this, on October 3, 2015, a notice was received by parents at Garfield High School that they can go to the school to see the results of the tests. Per the email to parents, it’s too costly to mail the results. So far no one is sure why the scores cannot be posted on the Source.
Here is an excerpt from the email:
For a related post, see Have you received a robo-call from Ready Washington about the wonders of Common Core Standards and the SBAC? If so, this is why.
Seattle Education 
Reblogged this on stopcommoncorenys.
Since the (false) scores will be from an assessment that fails to meet basic standards for testing and accountability, it could be that SBAC/the WA State Dept. of Ed are trying to avoid costly litigation that could/would occur if/when a parent would argue that receipt of [invalid] scores caused undue psychological harm to their child. A full 30+ page invalidation report documenting technological barriers and egregious flaws in the test design has been made public and has been roundly ignored by SBAC and State Departments of Education. California disregarded ongoing concerns raised by assessment experts and released scores anyway, but perhaps WA State is being more cautious. Maine has dropped the tests completely and Connecticut has dropped the 11th grade SBAC. Here is an Open Letter to the CA State Board of Education, relevant for other SBAC-active states as well: http://eduresearcher.com/2015/09/08/openletter/.
Yes, apparently the cut score has been lowered by OSPI so that more students will pass the SBAC.
To me, this furthur decreases the validity of the test and renders the scores meaningless.
Thank you for the information, we will look into this.
Dora
I predict (speculation) they are also having a math problem. The number of students initially reported as having taken the test did not square with the number of students who actually took the test. It’s an audit problem hinging on payment and legal liability.
So the reporting of the initial numbers of students taking the test, who reported that information? Schools, school districts?
Was it hype by OSPI that more students took the tests than actually did in response to the opt out movement in our state?
This is interesting. Did this occur when students were required to take the WASL? Were there issues of payments and legal liabilities then?
More reason to drop the test.
Too funny. I was told by the Delaware Department of Education in August that the reason states like Washington release preliminary results early was because they paid extra money to do that. Delaware released their abysmal results in early September. You would think Washington would’ve had their results out before Delaware since they paid extra money to AIR…