School & District Management

Teaching, Standards, Tests Found Not Aligned

By David J. Hoff — October 31, 2001 3 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

What teachers teach, what state standards expect, and what states’ assessments test are rarely the same, researchers reported last week.

“New Tools for Analyzing Teaching, Curriculum, and Standards in Mathematics and Science” is $15 from the Council of Chief State School Officers, Attn: Publications, 1 Massachusetts Ave. N.W., Suite 700, Washington, DC 20001.

Researchers involved with the Survey of the Enacted Curriculum Project have been analyzing whether standards and assessments are driving instruction. They told a group of state and federal officials at a one-day conference here that the answer is not much.

Andrew C. Porter, the director of the Wisconsin Center for Education Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and his colleagues survey teachers to find out how much time and effort they spend on specific topics and skills.

The team then draws a graph in which the topics— such as geometric concepts and data analysis—are on one axis, and skills such as memorization and the use of experiments are on the other. The amount of time spent in each area is represented by darkening the shade in the area.

The graphs look more like topographical maps than a guide to improving what teachers are doing in their classrooms. But the researchers are hoping that their complex pictures will show math and science teachers how well their instruction meets the expectations in their states’ standards and assessments.

“You can quickly see what isn’t there, as well as what is there,” Mr. Porter said.

“The power of the data that’s coming out of here ... is to have teachers recognize that X should be going on the classroom, but they have to decide how to do it,” said Michael Kestner, the section chief for mathematics and science instruction at the state education department in North Carolina, one of 11 states involved in the project.

The blob that spans the graph demonstrates which topics and skills are taught, with the darkest shades showing which get the most attention.

The researchers draw a similar graph of the states’ standards and assessment after analyzing them.

Not Test-Driven

In one state—called “State B” in the report the research team released here at the Oct. 23 conference—the graphs show that the statewide 8th grade science test focuses on understanding concepts and applying them, particularly in physical and earth science. But teachers reported that they covered a wider range of topics and place a greater emphasis on life science than earth science.

“For the states we looked at, it doesn’t look like their tests are driving instruction all that much,” Mr. Porter said.

In addition to North Carolina, the states of Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and West Virginia participated.

While the focus of the work has been on analyzing whether standards and assessments are driving instruction, state officials also can compare what is taught in different grades. Most will find that teachers repeat the same math material in the 4th, 5th, and 6th grades, Mr. Porter said.

That finding reiterates curriculum surveys conducted for the Third International Mathematics and Science Study, a 1996 comparison of math achievement and teaching in 41 countries. (“Math, Science Curricula Said to Fall Short,” Oct. 16, 1996.)

The Wisconsin researchers developed their survey in 1999 with money from the National Science Foundation. They worked with the Council of Chief State School Officers, which organized last week’s meeting.

Now, they are moving beyond the developmental stage of the project and are using the survey in four urban districts. Teachers from 40 middle schools in Charlotte-Mecklenburg, N.C., Chicago, Miami-Dade County, Fla., and Philadelphia are being surveyed. The project researchers will analyze the results against the state standards and assessments expected of those districts.

“We’re trying to directly use this data with schools to see the extent to which this will change practice,” said Rolf K. Blank, the director of the CCSSO’s education indicators program.

Related Tags:

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Assessment Webinar
Reimagining Grading in K-12 Schools: A Conversation on the Value of Standards-Based Grading
Hear from K-12 educational leaders and explore standards-based grading benefits and implementation strategies and challenges
Content provided by Otus
Reading & Literacy Webinar How Background Knowledge Fits Into the ‘Science of Reading’ 
Join our webinar to learn research-backed strategies for enhancing reading comprehension and building cultural responsiveness in the classroom.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Assessment Webinar
Innovative Strategies for Data & Assessments
Join our webinar to learn strategies for actionable instruction using assessment & analysis.
Content provided by Edulastic

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

School & District Management The Central Office Is a Mystery. A Researcher Broke the Code
Central office staff are largely directly focused on keeping things running rather than instruction, according to new research.
4 min read
Conceptual image of an organizational chart.
Kubkoo/iStock/Getty
School & District Management Better Principal Data Is Critical to Close Equity Gaps, Groups Tell Feds
Advocates argue that the data will help state policy makers, preparation programs, and advocates make better decisions.
5 min read
Assessment review data 599911460
vladwei/iStock/Getty<br/>
School & District Management 'Don't Wait': How Women Educators Can Reach the Central Office—And Beyond
Two leaders of color share their education paths from the classroom to central office—and offer tips for moving up the ladder.
10 min read
Simple flat vector illustration of a businesswoman in red heels holding up a giant light bulb with gears all around her.
iStock/Getty
School & District Management America's School Buildings Are Crumbling, and It's a 'National Security Issue'
The country's investments in school buildings are falling further behind pressing needs each year, advocates argue.
6 min read
Students walk past an open vent for the aging HVAC system at Jim Hill High School in Jackson, Miss., Jan. 12, 2023. A litany of infrastructure issues at many of the school district's aging campuses make for tough choices on spending COVID recovery funds on infrastructure or academics.
Students walk past an open vent for the aging HVAC system at Jim Hill High School in Jackson, Miss., Jan. 12, 2023. A litany of infrastructure issues at many of the school district's aging campuses make for tough choices on spending COVID recovery funds on infrastructure or academics.
Rogelio V. Solis/AP