District hires test consultant

The district will pay about $2,000 for a review of the results of the state ESPA test that Lawrence students took in the spring of 2000.

By: Lea Kahn
   Hoping to uncover elementary school students’ weaknesses, the Lawrence Township Board of Education has hired a consultant to review the results of the state Elementary School Proficiency Assessment.
   Statistical analyst Sandra L. Stein will be paid $2,050 to review the results of the state-mandated test that was given to fourth-grade students in spring 2000. The Rider University professor will deliver a report on her findings to the school board next month.
   School district officials said last month that they were not satisfied with the recent results of the Elementary School Proficiency Assessment and the Grade Eight Proficiency Assessment.
   The state has reported ESPA test data to school district officials, but it was not done in such a manner that educators can analyze it themselves, according to district Superintendent Max Riley and Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction Bruce McGraw.
   This is where Ms. Stein comes in, Dr. McGraw said.
   She will look at the data and offer fresh insights, he said, adding that the methodology she uses may be adapted by school district officials so they can analyze test data on their own in the future.
   "The test is not well constructed for educational purposes in the sense of what does it mean for instruction," said Dr. Riley. "We think we can apply sophisticated methods to the data. If we can track it over time, we think we can learn something that will help us. We will be able to use the tests to improve learning."
   Ms. Stein will look at the characteristics of the students and how they scored, Dr. McGraw said. She will analyze the scores by gender and by ethnicity, and by the number of years the students attended the Lawrence public schools. She will analyze groups of students — not individual students, he said.
   Ms. Stein will try to determine the characteristics of students who score well on the ESPA, he said. When school district officials analyzed the state Grade Eight Proficiency Assessment results, for example, they discovered that students who had not been exposed to algebra by the eighth grade did not pass the mathematics portion of the test, he said.
   Educators use tests to obtain information on the effects of instruction, Dr. Riley added. Tests offer feedback. Based on test results, educators may find out that students are learning addition and subtraction, but they are not mastering fractions, for example, he said.
   Educators use tests to obtain information on the effects of instruction, Dr. Riley added. Tests offer feedback. Based on test results, educators may find out that students are learning addition and subtraction, but they are not mastering fractions, for example, he said.
   "We want the students to do well. But when you are not given a whole lot of information, it is imperative to look at what you do have to make a decision on the education program," Dr. McGraw said.
   School district officials have analyzed the GEPA and HSPT results in previous years themselves, but they have not had much experience with the ESPA, Dr. McGraw said. The ESPA has been administered twice.
   Dr. Riley suggested hiring a statistician who also understands learning and teaching, Dr. McGraw said. When school district officials contacted Rider University for help, Ms. Stein was recommended to them, he said.