CEI's, TAKS and AYP
Submitted by whats next on Mon, 02/09/2009 - 09:22.
I am a teacher of a core class in an SLC High School. We have been asked/told to stop teaching the curriculum and start teaching to the "Test". That is where I have a problem. I can do as they have asked me to do and possibly save the school from being reconstituted, but at who's cost. The way I understand CEI's they are based pretty much on the ACP's at the end of each semester. So here is the dilemma, If I do what they ask I may help the school stay out of AYP jail, but I may loose my job because of low ACP scores. Or, if I teach the curriculum I may loose my job for not doing what the administration at my school asks me to do.
Help me!! I am confused as to what to do.
A confused teacher.
Either or?
The ACP is an end of course test designed to assess whether students have mastered a given curriculum. This curriculum matches both district and state requirements. These are presumably the same requirements being tested by TAKS.
If high ACP scores do not consistently translate to high TAKS scores, there are serious problems with one or both assessments.
How to Compute School and Classroom Effective Indices:
How to Compute School and Classroom Effective Indices: The Value-Added Model
Implemented in Dallas Independent School District
Dr. Dash Weerasinghe
Office of Institutional research
Dallas Independent School District
HELP!!!!!!!!
Can anyone out there decipher this stupid research paper?
https://portal.dallasisd.org/mydata/docs/CEI/SEI_CEI_Research.pdf
can anyone say "RACISM"?
why is that not surprising?
I have had people in the district tell me that my child has no REAL need for service or assistance because he is a white male.
Fantastic post. Bookmarked
Fantastic post. Bookmarked this site and emailed it to a few friends, your post was that great, keep it up.
[Ed Note: Thanks!]
It's all about the test.
I am amazed or rather in disbelief...no teacher should have to choose from the two. Let's face it the TAKS test measures nothing. How long has the been in place? Are our students more advanced bc of this test? No they are not. Why not replace Teachers with computer that can drill students all day on TAKS? In addition, Texas curriculum needs to improved. For example, students are not taught that civil rights impacted many groups not just blacks. The TAKS test needs to be taken out of Texas schools. Teachers should be allowed to get back to teaching. That's why most people get into teaching...their passion for children and teaching. It surely is not the pay or the benefits. Also parents need to be held accountable for their children. Teachers can only do so much..it starts at home. Teachers can march in Austin but so should parents and their families.They are our children!Our future!
I am an elementay teacher in
I am an elementay teacher in the swlc, and I couldn't agree with you more!!!
Parents have got to be accountable for their children. We can't do it by ourselves.
[Ed Note: What's an "elementay" teacher?]
You don't want to wait
You don't want to wait around until TEA comes. Then someone will be blamed. It may be YOU!!!!! If you didn't grin hard enough, talk polite enough, say yes enough, then YOU might be on the chopping block!!!!
Is it about Teaching?
This is the Dallas ISD. If you have a job at the end of the day, keep teaching.
If the state of Texas comes in and shuts down all the high schools in Dallas...They have a better plan?
Even if Dallas ISD was successful at sending all freshman from here to college, the state lacks the capacity to make it happen.
There are two questions to ask yourself if you are a teacher. Do your kids learn and do you teach?
If you answered yes to the above, you have no worries.
It is more important to teach how to live.
I have a more radical idea. Saying "No" to the state.
If the state has an interest in shutting down schools, let the state do it, but do not let them do it with out really doing it.
Open the school and make the state put troopers in the door and say that this school is not open. And then open the school the next day and make the troopers close the school. Then open the school the next day... there will be teachers teaching and children learning.
It is not like that there are alot of better schools to go to.
Let the Governer come to Dallas and Teach Freshman English and see how he fairs.
For the Schools that are on the AYP or AU train. Put those suckers into your classrooms. Instead of making you report to them what you are doing, make them work,then smile at them later.
Value-Add for Administrators
A new way of measuring student output:
http://www.flatschooldistricts.com/smackdowncookbook/recipe6.html
Why complain here rather than battle in Austin
Why complain here rather that battle in Austin where you could present your case(s) to a source which could bring about change? What change will come from discussion here? Have teachers presented directly to squash the current rating system? Are all teachers bound by a union in which they have to wait for representation? Is there anyone stepping up forcibly who could bring needed change to a failing rating system?
As a parent I wonder what is going on that this is allowed to continue. Educators who can not design a grading system? How does this compare to the grading system our children are subjected to in Texas?
No Control
Educators had no say in the model used to grade them. Sandy Kress has now implanted the Dallas model into the system that will be used for NCLB across Texas. That means all teachers in Texas have the Dallas system as a possibility.
To get the big picture:
http://www.flatschooldistricts.com/smackdowncookbook/recipe6.html
Good Article
Thats sounds typical DISD. They never want to address any real problem. Everything is swept under a rug. Then the person who brings it to their attention is faulted.
I hope that they get it together soon, for the kids sake.
Thank you
Thank you. I haven't finished reading this yet, the digestion ;( makes me sick. I really appreciate the information, and the nice format. This is sad, for DISD and Texas both. I am sickened when thinking of how education seemed to be a good thing for our children in years past, now it's business and run like ENRON. We stock holders are being fed bull and the system is crashing. I hold on to hope, at this point it is hard to see how the DISD will last much longer as-is.
Again, thanks for the info, I hope to get a better understanding.
It's part of the plan.
Businesses organization was adapted from military organization but instead of killing people, businesses are organized to make money.
When two nations are at war.. who profits? The banker and the gun maker. So for these people, it is profitable to create conflict.
Is creating conflict within the DISD system profitable? If it is, then who is doing it?
As a 4th grade math teacher,
As a 4th grade math teacher, my CEI's for the 05-06 school year and the 06-07 school year were in the blue (60-79 percentile-aka tier 4). I managed to get about 75-78% of my 4th graders to pass the math portion of the TAKS those years. My 07-08 year I managed to get 82% of my 4th graders to pass the math portion of the TAKS. It felt like such an accomplishment! I was complimented across the board, from faculty members and the principal. However, my CEI's dipped into the yellow (20-39 percentile - aka tier 2) for that 82% passing performance. How demoralizing. It has really, truly, made me care less. Why bother? I always work my a** off, and they've summarized my work down to a number. A number which tells me if I'm effective? I know it measures growth, but come on! If I didn't teach a lick of anything, I can guarantee that passing rate of 82 would've been in the 60s or lower. THAT, is not being effective. It is a crock and if they have any wisdom, they'll do away with it, because it is starting to rub good teachers the wrong way.
I would have to agree...
The CEI is truly not based on how good you are as a teacher. It is certainly not based on passing rates. The general statement is that they are based on the "growth and improvement" of the students. So basically they are looking to see if the scores improved for each kid from year to year. That's not fair to those who teach higher-level students because you have to work extra hard to bring them up higher than they currently are.
I can't comment on anything but high school, but the CEI system is useless. If you were to look at CEIs across the district for HS teachers, I would not be shocked to see that freshmen teachers typically have the lowest on campus and the junior/senior teachers have the highest.
That's why I don't advocate worrying about them. The only purpose they serve is to arbitrarily assign rankings so that fortunate teachers get some extra cash. I can't control my kids, only what I teach them. My CEIs are essentially out of my hands (I teach predominantly freshmen and sophomores) so I just don't worry about them. They aren't low, but they aren't as high as they could be, and I feel that every teacher in this district could easily say that about their CEIs as well.
Why is it not a TRANSPARENT Process?
It should not be a mystery. Too often teachers have no idea how to increase the CEI's. Students that should have been included are often not listed, and there is not a good process to tell someone when the wrong names are not included. It was very frustrating to plead with the principal and be told that its correct and not truly know where to go to get it changed. When she did admit it was wrong, then she just stated that she could not do anything about it. The process is complicated, when you get the list of students that may affect your CEIs and are told to cross out those that do not belong by 4pm, today.
The names of potential CEI
The names of potential CEI students were posted for over a month. Check your data more often. It wasn't a case of do it by 4:00 today unless you didn't read your emails and take the appropriate action.
Youn are right, Good TEACHING OVERRULES ANY NEED FOR TEST PREP
Teaching the TEKs at the highest level possible will ensure good TAKS Scores. The problem is that there are not many teachers with the skills to teach at an analysis and evaluation level. Many teachers teach at a comprehension level. They have not been taught to think critically. Therefore, they have a hard time teaching that way.
There is a lot of teaching TAKS. I worked in DISD, and I saw it happening. It produces UN-Thinkers. Non-problem-solvers. This problem is a huge one. Teachers are being told to put up the curriculum. I have even seen the whole grade level shut down and nothing but math taught for 2 whole weeks. These kinds of ridiculous things do happen.
It's not teaching the test
I also teach a core subject in an SLC school. The district is not asking us to stop teaching curriculum and start teaching TAKS. They are asking us to spend a few weeks focusing on the material on the TAKS test. You cannot legitimately think that a few weeks of TAKS review is considered "teaching the test." By taking some time before the exam to prepare our students for the exam, we are helping them succeed. I know you may not agree that passing TAKS is a good definition of success (and I would agree with you) but it is the measure and standard of success that we have to work within. Your CEI should not be your primary concern. Your primary concern should be your students success. If they succeed, you will too.
You have also been misled on how CEI's are established. There is a very complicated equation for determining CEI's. If you teach predominantly sophomores or juniors, TAKS will be a large stake in your CEI. ACPs comprise a portion of your CEI, but it is not as rough as TAKS.
The fact of the matter is that if your only concern is your CEI, then you do need to get out of the SLC. In fact, you need to get out of education because you aren't looking to help anyone but yourself. If your school's TAKS scores don't meet AYP, then no one cares what your CEI is, you are eligible to go, especially if your TAKS scores are low. So suck it up, and help your students pass TAKS. When our schools come off AU status, then you can get fussy about ACPs, until then, think bigger picture, it's not all about you.
TAKS Score are not a big
TAKS Score are not a big part of CEI's; my kids (Student) pass at very high levels and show growth, they also do fairly well on ACPS, however, my CEI is very low; it may have to do with the fact that I teach more Seniors than Juniors and their is only the fall ACP to measure them. If TAKS were a big part of CEI's, Senior or no Senior, my CEI's should be as low. I don't know about other teachers, but I do all that I can to help my student be successful on TAKS, ACP's and life in general.
Perhaps you could become
Perhaps you could become educated--but until then, get out of education. Have a "teacher" read your comment for errors. You and others like you are the reason we have CEI'S.
BS
CEI's are just another BS tool that the admin and HR use to keep your salary down. Tools like this and others are used all the time to justify whatever they do to you. It's the mark of a sinking ship. In order to keep afloat, they throw out people.
Youngteach is clueless
You MUST be new to teaching to think that your CEI is not important. You also are clueless if you believe that the TAKS test is MORE important than the ACP's in its calculation.
QUICK! Tell us the magic of the CEI!! Come on, give us the formula!!!
Can't, can ya? Nope, nobody can, but your Spring ACP IS important. Why? If your kids DROP in scores at the END of the course, when they should know MORE, then YOU SUCK, according to the CEI magic box.
The kids are burnt out from TAKS. They now have a 15% value on ACP's, so the kids care even less. You can have stellar scores in the fall, even on the TAKS, but if your kids "drop" in the Spring, you lose on the CEI---happened to me and many other core teachers last year.
You are also clueless if you think that passing the TAKS with a TAKS review isn't "teaching the test." Really? It isn't? So, say when an IPC teacher STOPS teaching IPC to REVIEW BIOLOGY for two weeks before the test, although his CPG doesn't say to, that isn't "teaching the test?"
Then his kids know less of IPC for the ACP, and the CEI fries the teacher when it comes time to reconstitute.
Are you new at teaching, because you sure seem to know what a true teacher should be, and if you think it is to get a kid to pass TAKS, I say again, you are truly clueless.
CEI "magic formula"
If you pay very close attention, the CEI is not based on how much the student approves in your class, it is based on how they did in your class compared to the year before. For example, a sophomore chemistry student makes a 62 on the Fall ACP and a 56 the year before on his fall Biology ACP. This improves the teachers CEI. Then, the TAKS score is compared to the previous TAKS score. If the TAKS score increases, teh CEI increases. Finally, the Spring ACP is compared to the prior year Spring ACP. The main reason I have figured this out is because I am a finatic for numbers and I noticed that the students that helped my CEI did not increase on TAKS or ACP for the year I had them (so, the ACP from SEM 1 was higher then SEM 2), however, they did directly correlate with their scores from the previous year. That is yet another reason why the CEI is not fair in the least. If you really want to judge how teacher does in a class, you have to give a pretest in August and the exact same test as a post test in June to see how much the students actually learn.
Not clueless...just realistic
I would never argue that CEIs don't matter. I would however argue that if you are teaching at a low-performing school, then your school meeting AYP and getting off the AU list should be your first priority. When your kids can't pass TAKS (and I'm not saying that is your fault, it is most likely the fault of many more before you, and other factors you cannot control)and your school continues down the AU path, then it doesn't matter whether your kids got the IPC they needed for ACP or not, you will still be out of a job.
When I said that helping students pass TAKS makes them successful, I did not mean that we were making them truly successful. The TAKS test would be the last thing I would use to determine real success. But it is the standard set before us and our students as the measure of success. The reality is that for our students, we have to help them pass TAKS, or they will be cut off from any other measure of success because they can't make it out of high school.
I wish that I could continue to teach my curriculum outlined in the CPG (which is in itself structured around TAKS). But I can't. I can't because instead of being able to teach my students to intricate and beautiful applications of Physics, I have to teach them that "distance over time" means "distance divided by time" and that you have to put the distance in the calculator first. These kids are not ready for the test, period. That's the reality. I could teach my TEKS to the best of my ability and these kids still won't be halfway ready because of the overwhelming amount of information they should have learned in 11 years of education didn't stick.
A "TAKS Shutdown" means that you spend a few weeks reviewing the material in hopes that you can drudge up some of those old lessons our students have learned. If not, your CEI doesn't matter, you will be in line with all those wonderful AC's you probably detest with all of your heart, looking for a job. So while I am reviewing my kids for TAKS, you can buck the system and do whatever you want, but I will be glad to keep my school open.
Youngteach's dilemma
Okay, I understand your point of view better now, but here is your Catch-22, which you set up.
You are at Samuell--just sayin'.
You teach to the TAKS and by God, they still fail by 3 points. The school is reconstituted.
Because you busted your butt to get them to pass TAKS, God BLESS you, your CEI will now be a 2.
Now, the school has failed, may be closed, and you get shuffled out the door.
Did anybody win in this scenario?
Oh, if anybody is teaching to the TAKS, instead of the CPG, is the directive in writing? Get it in writing to challenge your CEI. If they won't, hmmmmmmmmmm.
GET OUT OF there QUICK!!!!
You don't want to wait around until TEA comes. Then someone will be blamed. It may be YOU!!!!! If you didn't grin hard enough, talk polite enough, say yes enough, then YOU might be on the chopping block!!!! Literally.
TEACH the TEST, Ruin Kids' Thinking
Please do not teach the TAKS. TAKS is the bottom of the barrel of wha students need to know to be successful. If a kids can not get a 55 on TAKS. They do not need to go on.
That is the problem. Too many teachers have taught only the basic tricks that kids needs to know to pass. They have no grasp of true concepts. If you take away the answer choices, then they couldn't give anything from thinking. In the real world, thinking skills will be what helps them to be successful.
DISD is in a jam because they have fired certified teachers. They now need to cram for the tests. Scores will be a mess. There are so many schools with 10 - 15 permanent subs (Spence, Samuell, Atwell, Comstock just to name a few, class sizes in the 40s, and arrogant principal who have not a clue what is best for educating kids because nthey are too busy trying to become empowered to mistreat their staff. It will all come to the light.
Teach to the test
TAKS is a basic skills test. Passing should not be celebrated the way it is. But we regularly see the celebrations of teachers and students when the results come in. The mere fact that students, teachers, and principals feel such pressure to perform, and have doubts about the students' abilities, shows that there is a serious flaw in our educational system. It should be indisputable that, at least, 90% of our students should be able to pass a basic skills test. We know there are the "challenging students" that will have a rough time coping with the test, but the rest should be able to adapt and conquer.
Why are our students having such problems? Well, I'm going to upset some people here, but our social system has deteriorated significantly. Partially due to greed and the envy that accompanies it. People are so busy trying to keep up with the Jones' that they are neglecting their social & familial duties. This leads to parents spending too little QUALITY time with their children. Where is the parental involvement? Are the parents working in unison with the teacher to better their children? Or has the school system become a form of free daycare?
Final thought... The TEA modifies the TAKS test every year. This is to prevent the temptation of cheating, and also to "ensure test validity." I wrote the TEA a couple of years ago asking why the passing score changes every year. One year it may take a 65% to pass, the next time it may take a 68% to pass. For grades that must pass their exam (3rd & 5th Reading, 5th Math, etc.) the passing score changes with each test administration. The kids, teachers, administrators, and even the TEA do not know what they have to do to pass. This is the ultimate Bell Curve. The state has the indescretionate power to make it look like we had a good year, or a bad year. Strangely, this seems to be reflected more in election years.
you said it - it's just a tool to say whatever they want.
Stop kidding yourselves... we aren't here to educate them... we process them and get them acclimated to an environment full of rules and regulations.
Compare the public school system to the prison system and you will notice a number of similarities... the inmates refer to correctional facilities like people mention their alma mater. Instead of saying they graduated from NYU... inmates proudly say they came from Huntsville penitentiary.
Prison vs Educated
Correctional Officers are educated to control those who would appear to be less educated. Teachers are educated to control those who would appear to be less educated. Schools in Dallas, Tx are run very simular to the prison system in Texas. This has become the normal accepted behavior, uniforms too, the tool to keep out individuality (called out as necessary to prevent gang activity, which if that was the case why haven't the gangs moved elsewhere yet?). The students are even made to "walk the yard" rather than play with jump ropes or balls during "recess", stay in crowded areas for better control, and on. Sadly, I had the opportunity to witness some fine Teachers during a recent teacher training program. I must say that it is scary to think that some of them are teachers. Some were barely coherant, let alone apear to be able to instruct a classroom of children. There were many with bad attitudes, some which I've met before and know they would not allow even one student to be as out of touch as were they. So, it my point is that when the teachers themselves are too weak to stand up against the administration for forcably hearding the education system along the path of easy, then how the heck would a parent, student or third party ever have a chance. Accept that Dallas' reputation is what-it-is, do the best you can for your own kids and protect them as fully as possible. For those who have the power are like speeding boats in a lake and they are downing the beer while driving. Keep your heads up.
Which program?
Might I ask which program you witnessed?
A Typical Employee Attitude Program
I'm sorry that's just not something I'll throw out here. Not because I don't think others should know. Because the attitude and mannerisms teachers had really opened my eyes. Some made me uncomfortable. I now understand why my children have come to me with complaints about teachers and how odd(they) behave. After witnessing teachers first hand in this opposit roll (teachers as students), I will not accept quickly any teacher's judgment of my children. I know my children are not perfect, they are children. I will welcome discussion. However when a teacher seems to have constant issue I will personally want to visit with that teacher to see what type of person they are first. They may be just as much the issue. We can then go from there.
That's the way it is supposed to work.
I don't know what you were thinking earlier.. but that is how it is supposed to work.
Real career teachers are out there but most are retiring or are casualties of the RIF. Compounded by the fact that people cannot stop making babies even during difficult economic times makes finding qualified teachers even more problematic. (Maybe they are making more babies because times are difficult.) Regardless of the circumstances, There is a real shortage of well qualified teachers who will work for free so don't expect your standards of teacher quality to be on the same level as the state's idea of a quality teacher.
However we digress, we were talking about the loss of individuality of our schoolchildren... this similarity with our prison systems.
Your ideas of the path of easy isn't the same as other's idea of easy. It's ok to be easy. What is easy for you is not easy for others. You shouldn't expect shakespeare from a pool of typing monkeys. But you should at least expect that monkey to punch a key for you when you give them bananas.
Open minded said it first... it's about control... but we are way too focused on just Dallas ISD as if we are failing our kids. It's across the board people.. there is no one person in DISD responsible for this...
Let's just say our priorities about what we teach is intentionally messed up. Sheeple working diligently on the path of easy makes them dependent on the state and credit/banking system to get their needs met. It's the main reason why business math is not stressed as highly as the esoteric "higher" math. If they can't count what we pay them they won't realize how much less money they take home and yet they will still know enough to build our skyscrapers or have planes flown into them with the greatest of accuracy.
The issue is nationwide and it seems the government and the media want this. They want to do your thinking for you. The best way to do this is influence the educational system to produce the kind of people that behave like sheep. They want sheep people.. i.e., "sheepple". And they want it done as cheaply as possible because they.. the tax payer will have it no other way. Government for the sheep.. paid by the sheep.. with money borrowed from the banker who now owns the sheep and that means he owns the government too.
Our economy's recent plight was not because people became less trustworthy with borrowed money, they've always been that way. Our economic issues were due to housing and property ownership that is not affordable for the average HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATE. Our economic issues were due to greed for that green paper in exchange for land and resources that we really have in abundance.
You can no longer buy a home, or a car from the earnings that you saved from working at the factory.. there are no factories. Nowadays, you have to borrow that money from a bank at userous rates and then work for rest of your natural life to pay off what you borrowed.
Call it Standard Operational Procedure..call it a scheme..a scam... call it whatever you want.. it doesn't change the fact that it's a form of slavery where the medium of exchange is made of worthless paper. It's not even real money and the slaves will kill each other for it.
There is a way out... but it's a concerted effort of many and requires a change in your paradigm about "it is.. what it is..."
Currently you don't make money in the market when you have plenty of e.g., corn, you make money when corn is scarce. So let's grow less corn and charge more because there is less of it. It's messed up isn't it. Even though we are fully capable of generating an abundance of corn, we generate scarcity to make a few bucks.
Haven't you noticed how expensive food has become lately? That's how it is. It's messed up. Together we can change this messed up system based on scarcity and generate ... regenerate our way of life.
http://www.thevenusproject.com/
DISD never cared
Anyone with experience knows that teaching to a test is robbing kids of true learning. It disgusts me to hear about it. I had the joy of working in a grade above a teacher that Taught TAKS all year long. She had 90 percewnt passing TAKS. Those were some of the most unknowledgeable kids that I had ever come across. I was stunned. They only knew TAKS and nothing else. You take away the answer choices and the tricks and they were STUCK!!!!! They had to told everything. They had no initiative to figure out anything. I had to work harder than ever to get them to learn the concepts at the nedt grade level.
Parents should be outraged at thwe thought of this. KIDS NEED CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS TO SURVIVE IN THE REAL WORLD!!!!!
Teaching to the Test
I see teachers every single day that do nothing but tell the kids how important the TAKS test is. They teach them how to test the answer choices and eliminate wrong answers. This is why kids learn nothing all year long, but can still pass a basic skills test and go on to the next grade knowing nothing. This is also why passing rates decline the in the upper grades. Kids aren't learning and we're celebrating the success of having 90% passing. Every year kids are threatened that if they don't pass they won't go on, but it rarely ever happens. So now must kids know that they don't even have to learn the basics to continue through school.
It's what the state and the federal government want.
It's what the state and the federal government want.
http://www.youtube.com/v/4PpMdTmVMpo&hl=en
Stupid people are easier to manage.
In the New World Order, we don't need intelligence.
We need "honest" people who follow orders without questioning authority.
The government pays the educational system to teach our children blind submission.
The TAKS is designed to do just that. It stresses only one side of the brain and doesn't exercise the more creative side. Hence, no problem solving abilities except the math ones are taught in order to pass it. We want our kids to be good little robots.
The New World Order does not need people who can solve problems lest they find out the New World Order is the problem.
Why do you think ex-military get 1st dibs in any government job?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzN55Bpp13E&annotation_id=annotation_5369...
[Ed Note: You know, I once knew this guy who flew black helicopters in the military. He got out and now flies blue ones. Gotta be a conspiracy :) ]
Yes his experience qualifies him to fly blue copters sure... but he's trained to obey orders and kill people and is no different than those gangsters that obey their boss's orders and murder people. Are you sure you want that kind of person edumicating your kids?
That would be the Superintendent's Learning Community
That would be Superintendent's Learning Community
Would that be East SLC ?
A High School in the East Secondary Leaning Community? On Teir 4?
CEI's
I find CEI's to be a very trivial way to measure student "growth". Last year, my ACP's scores were all above 85%, and my kids TAKS scores were above 90%. I teach Reading, and my CEI's were under 50%. The Language Arts teacher, who gets credit also for my kids TAKS scores, had CEI's over 50%, and we had the exact same kids! So I do not put much faith into CEI scores. And it would also be good if someone out there could give a good explanation of them. And to the confused teacher, if you teach the curriculum, your students should do well. Our TEKS are aligned to the TAKS test, so that shouldn't be a problem. Just make sure you throw in a few test-taking strategies to stay in compliance with what the district is asking of you. But in the end, if we are honest with ourselves, we are here to enrich the lives of our children. It would be an injustice to the students, and also to society to send out young adults into the workforce or college with a subpar education.
CEI's
They need to either explain in a readable detailed way how they come up with the CEI's or do away with them. I know in the past couple of years I have been much more effective in the classroom, however my CEI's are worse. No one seems to be able to explain the CEI's from the district employee's or Alliance. If they cannot explain them they should not use them against the teachers.
CEI Calculation
There is some huge statistical formula used to calculate (or so they say) a teacher's CEI and a schools SEI. But putting the formula asside and just looking at how each kids affected your final score you can see where the push is and which types of kids have the most impact.
For example:
I teach Spanish. My native speakers have to score nearly 100% on their ACP test for me to have a good score on my CEI. If they dip below say an 90-92 on the test, I plummet. The same goes for Caucasian kids and TAG kids. If they score less than about an 85 I start taking hits on my score. But if I have an African-American female score low, she causes little or no effect on my CEI and if she gets an 90 or above, "JACKPOT!" The same goes for African American boys as well...but I think they cause a little less effect than their female counterparts.
This is all problematic because:
1. Teachers could start focusing their attention only on those kids who have the most effect on CEI outcomes.
2. Kids who might be labeled incorrectly (male/female--yeah, I've seen it) are not being compared correctly.
3. Kids with limited time in the district offer no CEI score to the teacher. I call them the 300's kids. Those are the kids whose ID numbers start with 3#####. So you can essentially ignore them as a teacher and still continue with a decent CEI.
4. In my rare case I had a kid labeled Hispanic Female and she spoke not one word of Spanish entering my class. She was expected to score the same as a native speaker who has had 13 years of Spanish in her life. Her score of passing 78ish, while not great and shows she and I needed to work harder, gave me a 28 or 30-something as a rating (where 50 is average). Just her score really dragged down my class average.
5. Small class sizes can affect a teachers CEI. In one class I had 8 kids (major scheduling issues). If only one of those kids bombed badly (or scored really high) that would have skewed my average for that section. So large classes can hide poor/great numbers while small classes amplify them.
6. Kids are compared between classes as well, even if taught by the same teacher in the same course. The white male TAG student you teach 3rd period will be scored differently than his twin brother in 4th period. If they both score an 88 on the same test, that score translates into a different CEI effect for each class.
7. How can you show added value in a course where kids come in knowing nothing about the topic with kids who come into a class already knowing something like "English" and be fair?