Are we smarter?

The Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) standardized test results have finally been released after being held in secret by Governor Malloy for well over a month.  They are not good, and reflect planned chaos in our state’s educational system.  They are the result of Common Core, and the usurpation of local control of our children’s education.

The Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) is a private company that Connecticut is contracted with to conduct Connecticut’s new standardized test program that replaced the CMT/CAPT tests conducted in the past.  SBAC high stakes testing occurred for the first time in Connecticut this past year and is designed to assess compliance with the new Common Core State Standards (CCSS), and associated changes to curriculum and teaching methods.  Yearly, standardized testing is the result of President Bush’s 2001 No Child Left Behind (NCLB) educational reform.

The figures below present: 1) 2015 SBAC Statewide Test Results by Grade Level, and 2) the test results for towns of the Quiet Corner and 18 Northeast CT towns.

So what do we learn?

According to the SBAC, almost 47% of Grade 11 students are not at grade level in English Language Arts (ELA), and an astounding 69% fail to meet grade level in Mathematics. This is a year from graduation.  That is a combined 50% decline of students not at grade level as measured by the new and experimental SBAC tests.

Consider.  CT’s graduation rate in 2014 was 87%, 85% in 2013.  Scores on previous CMT/CAPT tests showed students achieving At/Above Proficiency at rates of 78-82% for English and Math.  Today, SBAC says only 53% of students meet or exceed levels for ELA, just 31% for Mathematics.

So are Connecticut students now just not that smart or less smart than their predecessors?  Are teachers slackers and didn’t properly teach Common Core correctly?  Unlikely, and not logical, but this was suggested by Obama’s DoE Secretary Arne Duncan who mocked soccer moms concerned about the illogical and destructive outcomes from Common Core test assessments.  They, the state, have already started to blame teachers; the scores are low because of teacher lack of enthusiasm is the chatter.

What is certain, and true is that the SBAC test results are meaningless and of no value to anyone.  They tell us nothing because they are not valid, not reliable, and not mastery.  Cut scores chosen were arbitrary and purposely planned to create chaos and failure for more schools, teachers, and students thus requiring more state assistance for all.  It’s unconscionable that we plan to evaluate teachers based on a capricious, experimental test not viewed or accessible by anyone local.

Good thing SBAC scores have no bearing on a child’s ability to graduate from high school.  If it did, parents would be out with the pitch forks and that would really screw up the educational elites plan to waste more money and inhibit more lives.

The failure is clearly that of the State Department of Education (SDE) and Governor Malloy who continues the failure that is Common Core, wasting millions of we the people’s money.  Agreeing to submit all students immediately to an experimental, not valid, not reliable, not mastery computer adaptive test was their decision. They are not surprised; the failure rates are by design.  Cut scores arbitrarily set by political appointees and their contractors.  Broken eggs for an omelet.

Parent’s, don’t let your child be labeled a failure. It is your right; you should refuse consent, and “opt out” your child from future SBAC testing. SBAC is an experimental computer adaptive test with your child but a test subject, a guinea pig for another social engineering experiment by the educational and political elites along with their corporate sponsors gaining power and money.

As well, parents should refuse consent to the massive data collection of your child, you, and your family that occurs on a daily basis. You control whether this occurs or not.  Ask me how to stop it.

Remember, doing nothing is a choice.

If you have any questions regarding the SBAC test results, or Common Core, or Data Collection and Privacy Rights, or opting out, et al feel free to ask.

Join our group, Quiet Corner Parents for Education to keep informed of local educational matters of concern:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/QUIETCORNERPARENTS/

Below are statewide results.

Below are Quiet Corner and 18 Towns in Northeast Connecticut.