Delaware's Hidden Underclass - Repost from 11/09

Kilroy's Blog has recently touched on this topic - Certificates of Performance for Special Education students vs Diplomas.  As far back as 2009 (really further) this issue struck accord with C&E 1st.  Today, we'll republish some of our articles citing the arbitrary and pernicious nature of Certificates of Performance. 

See Kilroy's post here:  http://kilroysdelaware.wordpress.com/2012/04/20/certificates-not-diplomas-for-special-ed-students-wtf/

Imagine completing high school with plans to find a job using your vocational skills and the barrier between you and that career is not the economy, but a piece of paper entitled "Certificate of Performance." 

Frankly speaking, you can't get your foot in the door because the employer requires a high school diploma or general education degree (GED), but that's not what the State of Delaware awarded you upon the completion of your education.  They gave you a Certificate of Performance because, due to the manifestations of your disability, you participated in the Delaware Alternative Portfolio Assessment (DAPA) instead of the DSTP (soon to be the Delaware Comprehensive Assessment System or DCAS.)

Sounds like a bad dream, right?  It's not. 

Many of you know that I while I am a passionate advocate for education, there are few causes that fuel my fury more than the right of special education students to receive diplomas upon the completion of their high school career.  The problem is that in Delaware, we are systemically denying special education students that right every year.

Thursday night, following a Town Hall meeting in New Castle, I was able to discuss my concerns with Lt. Gov. Matt Denn.  Albeit brief, it was a conversation that gives me hope because I know that our Lt. Gov. shares my passion for special needs children.

I can't tell you when Delaware started denying some special education students diplomas, but I do remember the rumble of the differentiated diploma, under the administration of then-Governor Thomas Carper, in the early part of this decade.  In the May 3, 2000 publication of Education Week, Carper touted Delaware as an early education reformer: by legislating that "the state would become one of the first to link educators' job-performance evaluations to their students' test scores."

According to the same article by Joetta L. Sack, that piece of legislation set up "a new diploma system for students. To receive an "academic" diploma, students would have to pass the 10th grade assessments in math and language arts. Those who met all the course requirements but did not pass the exam would receive a "standard" diploma, while special education students who were unable to meet those requirements could receive a certificate of performance."

In the intervening years we know that despite Carper's legislation, Delaware failed to tie teacher performance to student test scores; yet, differentiated diplomas took root, sealing the fate of the many special education students who take the DAPA as second class citizens.  In one fell swoop, Carper and our legislature damaged and devalued the disability community and damned a generation of children to an additional challenge - finding employment or pursuing additional education.

I wasn't on the education scene back in 2000.  I was a newlywed and student, finishing up a degree in Journalism at the University of Delaware and working toward becoming a certified activity director.  I had no idea of the direction that my life would take, that in September 2001 I would become a parent and in three years time learn that my daughter had special challenges; or  that I would embark on journey of advocacy that would me in 2009 to run and win a seat on the CSD Board of Education. 

During the course of this week, I intend to educate my audience as to the reality of differentiated diplomas within the scope of special education, and to lead readers to the only logical conclusion:  Delaware must reverse itself in regards to the Certificate of Performance because regardless of the track you take, education is not a game, a play, or a Performance.  At the end of this journey, young adults are better served by a diploma than bouquet of roses!

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29.0 High School Graduation

29.1 Students with disabilities who are unable to meet the requirements for a diploma shall be given the option to complete those requirements by continuing their education, at public agency expense, until their 21st birthday. Regardless of the document received at graduation by the student, whether a diploma or a certificate of performance, the student shall not be discriminated against during the graduation ceremonies.
Specifically, a student with disabilities shall be allowed to participate in graduation exercises without reference to his or her disability, educational placement or the type of document conferred.

(Authority: 14 Del.C. §3110)
10 DE Reg. 1816 (06/01/07)

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Everything You Could Ever Want to Know About the Delaware Comprehensive Assessment System

All Text from the Delaware Race to the Top Application
Note:  Nearly every paragraph is a snippet from a different part of the application.  I have organized them in most chronological order I can provide in order for flow of reading.  I have highlighted some sections in bold for emphasis.

Happy Reading:

While DSTP is rigorous when compared to NAEP and other state assessments, it could be more comprehensive, cover a wider range of subject areas, and include multiple formative assessments to help teachers hit progress goals. For this reason, in 2009 the Delaware General Assembly mandated the implementation of a new computer-adaptive test (the Delaware Comprehensive Assessment System – DCAS), including formative and summative assessments, by the 2010-11 school year. Delaware is on track to meet this mandate, with a signed contract with an assessment vendor in hand.


Since Delaware’s new assessment will align with the common core standards (pending review and adoption), address college-readiness requirements, and be operational a full five ears before a common assessment is expected, the State intends to make its assessment available to the multi-state consortium as a model for the common assessment. When the common assessment is ready, Delaware will transition from DCAS to the new assessment.

DCAS: Delaware Comprehensive Assessment System. Delaware’s new statewide test of student achievement, which will be computer-adaptive and include multiple formative assessments. For every student, DCAS will provide up to three computer-adaptive formative assessments and one summative assessment per year, including end-of-course exams in high school, making Delaware one of the few states able to measure student growth in a valid and reliable way. DCAS will be fully implemented in the 2010-11 school year including benchmark and summative assessments for grades 2-10 in English language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies and end-of-course exams for high school courses (e.g. Algebra II)



To measure learning against these standards, Delaware is dedicating nearly $13 million in local, state and federal funding to develop the Delaware Comprehensive Assessment System (DCAS) – a series of new computer adaptive, flexible formative assessments that will be used to inform instruction and measure ongoing student learning. This investment, which shifts funding from an older summative testing system to one that is flexible and aligned with reform, includes $5.0 million of LEA funds, $4.1 million of State funds, and $3.6 million of federal No Child Left Behind funds.


Data from DCAS will flow into Delaware’s existing longitudinal data system, which already allows the State to know how every LEA, every school, every teacher, and every student is performing and improving.


As a computer-adaptive system, DCAS will improve testing by allowing all test takers, including students with disabilities, to take the same exam and have testing items adjusted to their level of knowledge. In this way, this single assessment will focus questions at the upper limit of a student’s knowledge, providing a nuanced assessment of aptitude and content knowledge.

Assessments:
In December 2009, the State signed a contract with an assessments vendor to develop DCAS (described in section (B)(2)), a set of statewide formative and summative assessments that will align with the common core standards. The vendor will make the DCAS tests for English language arts, mathematics, social studies and science available by August 2010, and the test will launch in the 2010-11 school year.

DCAS will be piloted during the spring semester of the 2009-10 school year. During the development of DCAS, the State will host a DCAS standard-setting event involving K-12 educators, higher education content experts and assessment experts to ensure that DCAS performance level cut scores represent college- and career-ready status for Delaware high schools. Once the development of DCAS is complete, the State will submit its revised State Accountability Workbook for USDOE peer review and approval.

In August 2010, the DCAS vendor will provide initial training for teachers and administrators on the new assessment. The State will augment this training with a manual and webinars to ensure that all teachers understand the importance of formative and benchmark assessments in improving instruction. Finally, in June 2010, the State will compete, as part of a consortium of states, for federal common assessments grants.


(B)(2)(i) Developing the Delaware Comprehensive Assessment System. DCAS, Delaware’s own computer-adaptive assessment system, will be used to administer up to three formative and summative assessments per year per student in core subjects, and will include formative and end-of-course exams in most other subject areas. In developing DCAS, Delaware will use a combination of local expertise, outside vendors, and participation in consortia that will develop and share testing items (see above) to gain access to high-quality testing items at the best possible value. As a computer-adaptive system, DCAS will improve testing by allowing all test takers, including students with disabilities, to take the same exam and have testing items adjusted to their level of knowledge. In this way, this single assessment will focus questions at the upper limit of a student’s knowledge, providing a nuanced assessment of aptitude and content knowledge.
DCAS will also be able to synchronize with the State’s data system, yielding immediate results that a teacher will use to improve instruction. For educators, DCAS will provide a more accurate measure of student growth and more timely and detailed information that will be used for planning and improving educational programs at the school, LEA and state levels. The State will provide data coaches to aid in the use of assessment data to improve instruction (see section (C)(3) for more information on using data to inform instruction). In addition, DCAS will provide multiple opportunities for students to demonstrate proficiency and will provide academic achievement information to students and parents, including a measure of fall-to-spring and year-to-year individual student growth. The robust student data created from this assessment system will form the foundation for a data driven approach to education and evaluation that will affect all of education in Delaware.

Finally, as prescribed by the Delaware General Assembly, DCAS is to be developed in a cost-effective manner and, to the fullest extent possible, developed in collaboration with other states.

Delaware’s goal is to adopt new standards by June 2010 and to train the approximately 7000 teachers affected by the new standards by the start of the 2010-11 school year. The State expects the curriculum refinement process to be 50% complete by the end of the 2010-11 school year, and 100% complete by the end of the 2011-12 school year. By the end of the 2010-11 school year, the State expects that 100% of DCAS tests will be in place, which will include at least three formative assessments. To support college-readiness, the State expects that 100% of students will be taking the SAT by the end of the 2010-11 school year.

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Back to Basics -- Why would the DOE trust NWEA with the contract for DCAS?

Former Christina Superintendent Joe Wise weasels his way back into the picture!

Thank You to fellow board member, John Young, for sharing this information via his blog http://www.transparentchristina.wordpress.com/

I took Delaware's Department of Education to task in yesterday's post for failing to create a firm and thorough request for bids for the assessment system( DCAS) slated to replace the DSTP. The original RFP (Request for Proposals) resulted in not one, but two lawsuits filed against the department, including a suit filed by the company to whom the DOE wanted to award the contract, NORTHWEST EVALUATION ASSOCIATION (NWEA).

According to yesterday's NJ story, "Subsequently, at the end of June, the department selected Northwest Evaluation Association -- the only vendor that bid on all components and whose Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) test has been piloted in several Delaware school districts and charters -- as the winner and began negotiations despite AIR receiving the highest scores on technical ability and price for the summative test and end-of-course exams. According to documents obtained by AIR through Delaware's Freedom of Information Act, AIR was the first choice overall for 54 percent of teachers who observed a demonstration of the tests."

DOE then announced they would scrap the first RFP process and start over with a tighter (and more in line with Delaware law) request.

So who is Wise to NWEA? He is currently a member of the NWEA's Board of Directors, although his bio briefly touches on his stint in Christina, and speaks of only great things during his brief and questionable time in Duval County, Florida (the district for which he resigned from Christina to lead.)

I feel it is also important to disclose NWEA is also the company that provides the Christina School District with Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) assessment. I do not know if Wise was an NWEA Board member prior to our district's adoption of that assessment, nor am I advocating that we scrap it. My teacher intel share's that this is a model our educators find helpful in tailoring their approach to meeting student needs.

The disclosure aside, I was not a board member, and barely a district parent during the Wise years. I was a tax payer and like many still carry a deep resentment for Wise. His time with our district fostered an incredible distrust from stakeholders, that unlike our financial affairs has yet to remedied.

So, yes, I do question the decision of any Delaware agency that would do business with a company that values Mr. Wise. As I imagine I will state frequently over the next four years (when my time with the board comes to an end) what every smart shopper knows, the cheapest product is seldom the best.

I am further concerned that DOE entered into negotiations with NWEA despite the fact that another company received higher scores on technical ability and price for the summative test and end-of-course exams. This company was the first choice overall for 54 percent of teachers who were involved in the demonstration process.

Finally, I call into question the fact that NWEA has threatened to file suit against DOE.

According to a letter issued by Sec. Lowery to all entities that bid for the contract, NWEA had indicated that it would also file suit against the department regarding requirements of a performance bond -- an insurance policy on the vendor's performance. The letter says that what was written in the bid request and what was told publicly to vendors conflicted with what Delaware law requires. The threat of suit comes from the company with whom the DOE entered negotiations and from whom DOE already has an existing relationship. Come on!

It all reminds me of the old saying: keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer...

Of course, I am writing this as I listen to the rain wick off my new roof (one day old) into my new gutters, currently being installed as I speak ... yes, in the rain. That's work ethic! I vetted the companies that bid on my home and chose not the cheapest, but certainly not the most expensive. I chose the company that had the right product at the fairest value, who also happened to have a fantastic rating the BBB, great reviews from past customers, and who had never done business with Mr. Wise.

Okay, I fully expect to take a beating for this opinion from many in education administration throughout Delaware. But, if our board members can't ask questions openly, will we ever have any answers? This is the road to transparency and accountability.

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