Moderator's Note: A calendar item emailed today incorrectly stated that sophomores don't have school; that has changed since this note was calendared many months ago. Following is info pertinent to all students during next week's SBA Testing...
Dear Parents and Guardians,
During the week of March 26, juniors and for the first time sophomores will be required to take the New Mexico Standards Based Assessment. Students must pass the math, reading and science sections of the test by the end of their senior year in order to earn a high school diploma.
The New Mexico Public Education Department now requires that all public school students who have been in high school for two or three years take the SBA. This includes students who may not be classified as sophomores or juniors, but who started high school in 2009 or 2010. If you're not sure whether your student needs to take the SBA, check with his or her counselor.
Both sophomores and juniors will be required to take the reading and math sections of the SBA this spring, and juniors also will be tested in science.
If your student doesn't pass all sections of the test, there are options for retaking failed sections next year for juniors and both next year and during the senior year for sophomores.
Any student who does not pass all required sections of the test by their senior year may opt to obtain a high school certificate of completion. Once students earn a certificate of completion, they may return to their high school for up to five years to retake failed sections of the test in an attempt to earn a diploma.
The state Public Education Department is developing another option for students who don't pass the required tests by the fall of their last year in high school. As soon as that option is available we will provide more information.
Important Dates:
Monday, March 26
Is a C-Day for all students
Tuesday, March 27
Wednesday, March 28
Thursday, March 29
Thursday afternoon and Friday, March 30
Freshmen and seniors won't attend school Tuesday through Friday except during their student-led conferences. However, they will be assigned projects and homework that will be due when they return to school.
Monday, April 2
SBA Info From our District 2 APS Board Representative Kathy Korte:
SBA Testing: When our kids return to school after Spring Break, students in grades 3-8 and 10-11 will begin taking the Standards Based Assessment. Here are questions I posed to the district and the answers provided by Chris Brunder in our Research, Development and Accounting office. I was not satsfied with a story written and published in the Journal. I thought it was shallow and lacked critical details. I wanted the real facts to share with you:
1. How much does it cost to give the test to each child?
The cost is $32.62 for grades 3-8 and $ 74.38 for grades 10 and 11. However PED will pay for grade 10 this year
2. How many total kids are taking the SBA?
Between 51,000 and 52,00 students take the NMSBA
3. How many 10th graders?
6,050 10th graders (second year students test regardless of their class standing )
4. How many 11th graders?
5,100 11th graders (third year students test regardless of their class standing)
(THE COST: $1,332,527 to administer the test to the elementary kids and $829,337 for 10-11 grades. TOTAL COST: $2,161,864)
5. Where do we get money to do this? In other words, does state supply all money to administer this to everyone? If not, what hit to our operational funds does this make?
The state claim is that there are funds put into the SEG for testing. These funds are not earmarked but instead come as part of the total allocation to each district. In APS all of the costs associated with testing are in the RDA budgets and are funded out of the operational budget.
6. What are the implications of a certificate of completion?
If a student does not pass one or more of the content areas he/she can take it again in the fall of the senior year. If the student does not pass in the fall of the senior year PED is working on putting together an "Alternate Demonstration of Competency" but has not released any final information. That would then be completed in the last semester. If the student fails to put together the ADC but has earned all of the credits he/she earns a certificate of completion and not a diploma. Most community colleges will accept a certificate and many 4-year institutions will accept a certificate with an ACT/SAT score that is competitive. But otherwise a certificate as opposed to a diploma is limiting.
7. Who pays for the test for a student who needs to keep taking this for up to five years?
Districts have to pay for it.
8. The other implication: lost instruction time for HS 9th and 12th graders.
The schedule of testing that APS designed is to include testing during the same time that students in high school are holding student-led parent conferences. So students are engaged for some portion of the time that the 10th and 11th graders are testing. In total, the second-year HS students will test about 5 hours and third-year HS students will test about 7.5 hours.
The SBA is a great tool to deciphering where our kids stand on their educational progress. It's a great tool for teachers to use, in addition to the District Benchmark Assessments, in determining where their students are lacking. But to base a diploma on this test is absurd to me. I come from a generation, as most of us do, that earned graduation credits and got a diploma based on those credits. We got admitted to colleges based on our overall high school success and our outcomes in ACT and SAT tests.
The SBA test is now critical to high school students. A "certificate" is NOT the same thing as a diploma and is NOT good for a student. It's not good for a district to have to pay for a student for up to five years to re-take the SBA.
To hinge a student's and a school's "success" on one test is ridiculous. As I told a group of parents at a district meeting two weeks ago: "What is the definition of success?" It varies from student to student, family to family and community to community. To label a child a "success" based on his/her score on the SBA is downright insulting.
Some will say that the test makes sure every student is proficient before entering college. I guess that's a good argument. However, that would be saying we expect every one of our children to attend college. That's not realistic. And just because a student does not go to college does not mean that student will not lead a successful life. There are many in my family whom I would deem successes -- and these family members have had successful careers despite not having college degrees.
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