Thread by @il_fps

Thread on the misuse of the NWEA MAP in Chicago Public Schools:

The reason CPS has its own school rating system that uses NWEA MAP scores is Sec 34-8.3 in the IL School Code

wbez.org/shows/wbez-new…

Full & bizarrely-not-finalized-version of the report here courtesy of @WBEZeducation: assets.documentcloud.org/documents/6783…

The correct response is not, unlike at least two Chicago Board of Ed members have done, to deny that this is a cheating scandal. It is a cheating scandal, among other things.

The correct response is also not to condemn the outgoing IG as unfairly harsh on principals in other cases. That's irrelevant here whether or not its true.

The correct response to the disturbing content of the IG's report & the obvious misuse of this test to harm children & schools & the public school system as a whole in this city is to call for the repeal of 105 ILCS 5/34-8.3 ilga.gov/legislation/il…

This part of the school code was passed in 1995, pre-NCLB & early on in the ramp up of high-stakes use of standardized tests to rank and punish schools

It's archaic and, since at least 2015 when ESSA was passed, obsolete, but bc having its own internal rating system let's the Chicago Board of Ed, aka the Mayor's Office, manipulate that system for its own political purposes, the BoE/mayor has no reason to give it up

Sec 34-8.3 should disappear along with the unelected board, also a terrible, bad, no-good idea passed as part of the "reforms" in 1995. @robertmartwick @CTULocal1

IL's ESSA state plan now has the state rating schools, still mostly on test scores, but the consequences tied to the rating system are largely non-punitive, and so the harm the ratings can do are greatly limited compared to under NCLB

Repealing Sec 34-8.3 could leave in place the misuse of MAP to rate students, teachers & principals, but without SQRP, those uses would be more difficult to justify.

Wresting teacher evaluations from test scores would also require a change in state law, but student promotion and admissions policies that rest on MAP are district policy, as are principal ratings.

Many millions of dollars and (as is obvious from the OIG report) hours and hours are spent on NWEA MAP testing & test prep. It doesn't have to be this way.

(Technically, CPS could use existing state rating system to fulfill requirements of Sec 34-8.3, but that would mean schools could be subject to the harsh consequences in that Section, like school closings, based on the not-so-great state rating system, so repealing is preferable)

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