Local Opinion: The truth about pandemic-year school testing data
Amy Bhola sets the record straight in today's Arizona Daily Star. She writes, "There is a slate of opposing candidates who are relying on pandemic-year testing data to proclaim they can “fix” what they contend is CFSD’s systemic failure to educate students to the level of “proficient” in reading and math. Their claim is baseless, and it should be rejected by CFSD voters." The full article is included below.
Local Opinion: The truth about pandemic-year school testing data
I am a retired middle school math and science teacher with a master’s degree in education who is running for re-election to the Catalina Foothills School District (CFSD) Governing Board. There is a slate of opposing candidates who are relying on pandemic-year testing data to proclaim they can “fix” what they contend is CFSD’s systemic failure to educate students to the level of “proficient” in reading and math. Their claim is baseless, and it should be rejected by CFSD voters.
State-required assessments are given in the spring of each school year. For 2020, state tests were canceled. In 2021, lawmakers required that the assessments be administered to students, but determined they would not be used to rank schools. For reasons primarily related to the pandemic, scores across the state dipped, leading the Department of Education to warn that the test results “should be reviewed cautiously.” Contrary to this caveat, these are the results cited by my opponents to support their broad claim that CFSD kids are failing.
Every parent of a school-age child remembers the challenges of educating students during the pandemic, even in CFSD where 100% remote-learning occurred for a relatively short time. In 2021, as in prior years, CFSD students performed better than their counterparts statewide. The recently released 2022 data, from the assessments given in spring 2021, confirms that the lower scores from pandemic-year testing were not typical. Out of 238 Arizona unified school districts, CFSD scores are No. 1 in English Language Arts and No. 3 in Mathematics.
Voters should be wary of board candidates who are willing to exploit parents’ natural inclination to worry about their children by misrepresenting facts in order to gin up hysteria so they can claim to have a solution to a problem that doesn’t actually exist.
This is not to say that the 2021 test results should be ignored. Standardized assessments are a valuable tool to help make educational decisions aimed at improving student learning, but the state-mandated test should not be the only data point considered, and results from pandemic-year testing must be viewed in their proper context.
To that end, CFSD conducted a multi-year analysis of state assessment results, which is publicly available on the district’s website. The information gathered was used — along with stakeholder input – to help identify where CFSD needs to accelerate learning opportunities to effectively support the academic needs of our students. Using that information, CFSD has dedicated over 67% of its $2.3 million allocation of federal COVID-19 recovery funds to address “learning loss/unfinished learning” through evidence-based interventions directed at students’ academic, social, and emotional needs.
CFSD students have a long track record of academic success. Foothills High School graduates 97.5% of its students, 90% of whom go on to college, and is rated by U.S. News and World Report as Arizona’s #1 comprehensive, non-selective high school. CFSD students are not only proficient in core subjects, but they are clearly thriving in all areas of the district’s robust curriculum. These achievements reflect the hard work of students, as well as the dedication of teachers and staff, strong family and community support, and focused and effective leadership.
I believe my expertise as an educator plays an important role in ensuring that student assessment data is analyzed properly and used appropriately, not as a scare tactic to drive policy divorced from reality. CFSD students deserve to be guided by board members who take the time to think rationally, critically, and to understand all the information that goes into their decision-making. Only then can the board deliver on CFSD’s mission to “ensure that each student achieves intellectual and personal excellence, and is well-prepared for college and career pathways.”
There are only three candidates who possess these essential qualities: Amy Krauss, Gina Mehmert, and me, Amy Bhola.