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The new Senate Bill 1, to replace the state’s troubled CATS public school accountability tests is smoking out a lot of terribly uninformed criticism. It’s coming from legislators, education leaders and some in the print media. As the critics of this bill sound off, it is becoming clear that this bill’s opponents are locked in some sort of time warp. These people remain remarkably uninformed about advances in the art and science of testing that have been made since KERA’s passage in 1990. The prisoners of the warp are somehow missing the many obvious indications that the CATS assessment is a very troubled and unreliable indicator of Kentucky’s education performance.

Sadly, so long as such antiquated ideas are allowed to dominate the education system here, Kentucky will continue to fall behind the leading edge of education and testing in this country. As long as the denial of CATS’ faults continues, Kentucky’s children will continue to receive far less that they need to succeed in the modern world.

So, let’s examine some of the more out of touch comments that have surfaced.
One of the earliest SB 1 attacks came from the always sharp-tongued, but remarkably uninformed, editorialist at the Courier-Journal.

This “prisoner of the warp” must have been asleep for ages. How can changing a testing program that is supposed to be the driving force for positive change cause damage when, after nearly 18 years of reform, nearly half of the freshmen entering Kentucky’s colleges right after high school require remedial course work?

How can it be harmful to dump a test that provides grossly inflated scores – scores that have been steadily becoming more inflated ever since the CATS started in 1999?

The Courier’s education Rip Van Winkle is also clueless about what is really happening to writing instruction in Kentucky and the way SB 1 plans to handle the problem. Far from the accusations in the Courier attack editorial, writing portfolios are not going away under SB 1. Instead, the program is going to be revamped so portfolios can be used the way they were actually created to operate – as a powerful tool for teachers. Portfolios won’t be in the CATS accountability formula under SB 1, but accountability for them continues as their use is going to be closely monitored. SB 1 requires the Kentucky Department of Education to audit 20 percent of all the schools each year to insure that this writing program is running as required. Do you really think schools would ignore any program that is going to get such frequent inspection?
Another person raising questions about SB 1 is the head of the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence. The
February 19th Courier-Journal reports that in reaction to SB 1, Prichard’s president now cautions against making changes to the CATS. Per this Prichard leader, any changes could take away or weaken school accountability, putting overall support of education at risk.

As you read this Courier-Journal article, you get the distinct impression that there has been a 180 degree turn from everything Prichard said in a formal report in 2005. That report actually calls for many of the things included in Senate Bill 1.

For example, in 2005 Prichard called for replacing the high school CATS tests with something better, listing this as a “Top Priority” (Page 16). That’s right – Prichard indicated replacing at least a part of the CATS test program was a high priority.

Prichard also indicated in their 2005 report that the CATS tests need better alignment with what kids really need throughout all levels of education, including college (Page 14). Senate Bill 1 explicitly requires exactly that alignment. Now, Prichard doesn’t want that? Go figure.

By the way, this isn’t the first time Prichard switched signals on education issues. In the same 2005 report Prichard also suggests that students need early diagnostic assessments that are better aligned to what kids need later in school, and these tests need to start no later than middle school (Page 14). We actually got tests like that less than a year after the Prichard report came out when legislation led to the use of the EXPLORE and PLAN assessments for eighth and tenth graders. Those tests give teachers and parents feedback and diagnostics on each individual student, just like Prichard said they wanted.

However, Sexton and his crowd didn’t support that 2006 legislation, either. Fortunately, we still got those outstanding EXPLORE and PLAN assessments, which are aligned to what kids need in postsecondary education and on the job site. But, it was no thanks to Prichard.

All of this nonsense certainly is upsetting some of our key legislators who understand what is happening, and why change is needed. For example, you can hear comments from Senator Dan Kelly and other common sense observations from other Kentucky senators by listening to the KET archive of the Senate floor session on February 21st.

If you listen to this recording, start the download and set an alarm clock for 58 minutes to alert you when Kelly’s comments begin. The first hour of the session is devoted to lots of recognition and honors that might not interest you. The meat of Kelly’s comments should start shortly after your alarm goes off. As an alternative, drag the time slider on your media player not quite to the middle of the scale to find the start of Senator Kelly’s and the others’ comments. They are worth the time and trouble to hear.

And, keep tuned in to this blog for more about the nonsense about not changing the CATS. We want Kentucky to have the full story so that the best possible decisions for children can be finally made.