New Jersey Special Review Assessment

8/9/2019 New Jersey Special Review Assessment

1/72

New JerseysSpecial Review

Assessment:Loophole or Lieline?

A Policy B r i e

Michelle Fine and Liza Pappas

Th Gaduat cnt

ct Unvst Nw yk

Stan Karp and Lesley Hirsch

eduatn law cnt

Alan Sadovnik and Andre Keeton

insttut n eduatn law and P

rutgs Unvst, Nwak

Mary Bennett Pjt GrAD, Nwak

August 2007


2/72


3/72

New Jerseys Special Review Assessment:Loophole or Lieline?

A Policy B r i e

Ppad b:

Michelle Fine and Liza Pappas

Th Gaduat cnt, ct Unvst Nw yk

Stan Karp and Lesley Hirsch

eduatn law cnt

Alan Sadovnik and Andre Keeton

insttut n eduatn law and P, rutgs Unvst, Nwak

Mary Bennett Pjt GrAD, Nwak

August 2007

W appat th gnus suppt th Shumann und Nw Js.

W as appat th ntbutns Dna Sahtt, Jant Shppad,

A Passaa, Dan oK, Kathn Wth, caa Ns, Ma Jan Kap,

Jssa rugs, Adam Hunt, Anga Pz M and laun An.

For information/inquiries contact:

D. Mh n, cUNy Gaduat cnt 212-817-8710, [email protected]

Stan Kap, Snda rm Pjt, eduatn law cnt 973-624-1815 ext 42,

[email protected]


4/72

Table o Contents

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Frequently Asked Questions about the SRA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

The SRA and New Jersey Graduation Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

The SRA Research Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

1. Who graduates via HSPA and SRA? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

2. What are the possible ramications, in terms o disparate impact by

race, ethnicity and social class, on children and districts i the SRA were

to be eliminated?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

3. Why do students pursue the SRA ater having ailed the HSPA? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

4. How do HSPA and SRA graduates, and dropouts, are on post-secondary

outcomes in the areas o higher education, work, health and involvement

in the criminal justice system?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

New Jersey Policies in the National Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

The SRA and New Jersey Secondary Reorm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Conclusions and Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Promoting Multiple Pathways to Graduation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Strengthening the SRA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32Issues in Need o Policy Attention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Recommendations or Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Closing Thoughts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Appendix A: SRA Perormance Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Appendix B: Methodological Details on Sampling Strategy or the

Three District Cohort Analyses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Appendix C: Summary Literature Review on the Impact o High Stakes Testing on

Secondary Schools and Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Appendix D: The Individual and Social Costs o High School Dropout Rates . . . . . . . . . . 50

Appendix E: The GED Alternative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Appendix F: Finding Common Ground on New Jersey Secondary Reorm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Nw Jss SrA: lph ln?


5/72

Introduction

We have the highest high school graduation rates in the nationWhatever we do,

we must keep and enhance the nations best school system.

Governor Jon Corzine, January 2007 State o the State address

Ordinarily, one might expect that an alternative education program that encourages thousands osecondary students to stay in school and remain on track to earn a high school diploma would have

broad support. However, New Jerseys special review assessment or SRA, has been the subject o

longstanding and, at times, contentious public debate. Detractors o the SRA have called it a backdoor

diploma that hurts the very students it seeks to help. Supporters assert that the SRA is a legitimate

alternative to the states more traditional exit test, the High School Prociency Assessment (HSPA),

and has even saved lives by providing struggling students with an alternative that keeps them rom

dropping out o school and the resulting well-documented negative personal and social consequences.

Yet despite much talk in education circles about data-driven reorm, there has been little research on the

role o the SRA in allowing students to satisy New Jerseys graduation standards. Aside rom aggregate

totals o the numbers o students graduating through HSPA and SRA, little inormation has been made

available to date on the demographic characteristics or educational experience o these students, their

access to opportunities to learn and their post-secondary outcomes compared to other graduates or

dropouts. This report is an attempt, in part, to help ll this gap and to supply inormation that can

help to inorm policy decisions that will aect thousands o New Jerseys students and hundreds o its

communities. This study:

> Reviews the history o the SRA policy and debate;

> Reports ndings o a multi-method study undertaken to document the potential impact o SRA

elimination on secondary students in New Jersey, with a particular emphasis on the implications by

race, ethnicity, social class and community;

> Places New Jersey policy debates about graduation policy and secondary reorm in national context;

> Identies a set o policy considerations or a variety o constituencies; and

> Oers recommendations on how New Jersey might strengthen the rigor o its graduation requirements

without losing ground on its impressive graduation rates.

Nw Jss SrA: lph ln?


6/72

Frequently Asked Questions about the SRA

What is the Special Review Assessment or SRA?

The SRA is a way or students who have not passed all sections o the High School Prociency

Assessment (HSPA) to meet New Jerseys high school graduation requirements. It is a series o

perormance assessment tasks (PATs) designed by the New Jersey Department o Education (NJDOE) as

an alternative assessment that provides students with the opportunity to exhibit their understanding and

mastery o state graduation standards in contexts that are amiliar and related to their experiences.

(NJDOE Website http://www.nj.gov/education/assessment/hs/index.shtml#sra)

How does the SRA dier rom the High School Prociency Assessment (HSPA)?

The HSPA is a traditional paper and pencil standardized exam that uses multiple choice questions, open-

ended, short-answer questions and a writing sample to assess student skills in math and language arts. It

is administered in a ormal testing environment under timed, secure conditions on dates specied by thestate. The HSPA is created and scored at the state level by a commercial vendor hired by the New Jersey

Department o Education.

Typically, students pursue the SRA ater they have ailed to pass one or more sections o the HSPA.

The SRA requires students to successully complete a series o perormance tasks that are aligned with

state standards and created by the same commercial vendor who creates the HSPA. However, the SRA

is administered locally on a fexible schedule in less ormal, untimed settings. Students may be given

multiple opportunities to complete the perormance tasks which are scored by local educators who have

been trained in the use o scoring rubrics provided by the state. The SRA is also available in Spanish,

Portuguese and Gujarati, while the HSPA is given only in English.To earn a diploma, both HSPA and SRA students must also accumulate at least 110 credits, pass all core

courses required or graduation, and meet other local requirements.

How does the content o the SRA compare to the content o the HSPA?

The SRA and the HSPA are designed to be educationally equivalent assessments. The SRA content is

linked to the HSPA test specications in order to ensure that students who are certied through the SRA

process have demonstrated the same skills and competencies at comparable levels as students who passed

the written HSPA test. [http://www.nj.gov/education/assessment/hs/index.shtml#sra] As Education

Commissioner Lucille Davy has said, the SRA was never intended to be used as a lower standard,but rather a dierent means o measuring the same standard. (New Jersey Senate Budget Committee

Testimony, April 16, 2007)

For each part o the HSPA that a student does not pass in the regular testing environment, he/she must

successully complete two PATs rom the same cluster o skills measured by the HSPA. According to the

NJDOE, the diculty or rigor o the PATs is comparable to HSPA questions. (Doolan & Peters, 2007)

In act, Dr. Linda Darling-Hammond o Stanord University, a nationally-recognized expert on high

school assessment issues, has described the SRA as the type o alternative test that measure[s] students

Nw Jss SrA: lph ln?


7/72

skills and knowledge in a more dynamic way that can better inorm ongoing instruction and provide a

more thorough assessment o students learning. (Darling-Hammond et al, 2006)

Why is there an alternative high school graduation test?

The Center on Education Policy reports that o the 25 states that currently require an exit test or high

school graduation, 17 provide some sort o alternative to the traditional test. The SRA is one such

alternative. Just as students learn in dierent ways, students may demonstrate their knowledge and skills

in dierent ways. Educators and proessional organizations o experts in educational measurement agree

that multiple measures o student learning are the most reliable and that no single high-stakes test should

be used to make important decisions about a students uture. (See pages 2627.)

Who is eligible to take the SRA?

Since 1991, the SRA alternative has been available to all students who do not successully pass one

or more portions o the HSPA. The number o students using SRA has risen steadily over the years,

including signicant increases between 2002 and 2003 when the state replaced the High SchoolProciency Test with the more challenging High School Prociency Assessment. In 2006, the state

reported that over 13,000 New Jersey graduates received their high school diplomas by using the SRA

to meet state standards. (NJDOE SRA 2006 Annual Survey. Note: State data on the number o SRA

graduates varies according to the source used. For example, New Jersey School Report Card data

indicate a total o just over 11,000 SRA graduates.)

What do we know about SRA students?

Unortunately, not as much as we should. There is little inormation available to policymakers or the

public about the educational experience or the post-school outcomes o SRA students. Accordingly it is

dicult to know whether SRA students have had access to suciently rigorous course sequences and highquality instruction rom ully-certied educators that might have better prepared them to meet HSPA

requirements or how the post-school lie outcomes o SRA graduates compares with either dropouts or

HSPA graduates in terms o college participation, employment, health, and criminal justice encounters, etc.

The importance o gathering such data to make inormed policy decisions that impact thousands o

students and hundreds o communities is a strong argument or moving cautiously in this area. It is also

another reason or creating the ot-mentioned longitudinal, student-level database needed to track the

progress o New Jersey students through the K-12 system and beyond.

What does the limited amount o available data about SRA students reveal?In 2006, about 12 percent o all New Jersey graduates and about one-third o all graduates in the urban

Abbott* districts used SRA to meet state graduation requirements. (New Jersey Department o Education,

SRA graduation rate rom 2005-06 School Report Card; number o graduates rom 2005-06 Fall Survey.)

Frequently Asked Questions Nw Jss SrA: lph ln?

* Abbott districts are the 31 poorest urban districts in New Jersey that receive resources, programs and services under a serieso New Jersey Supreme Court rulings known as Abbott v. Burke. For a history and background o the Abbott lawsuit andresulting reorms, the New Jersey Supreme Court decisions, and a list o Abbott districts along with statistical proles, seewww.edlawcenter.org.


8/72

Among the states 31 Abbott districts, rates o SRA use vary widely, rom single digits to over 50 percent.

Similar wide variation exists among high schools inside Abbott districts. The state has not conducted

any studies that might help explain these variations, although such a study was explicitly called or in the

Abbott regulations (N.J.A.C. 6A:10A-3.2 (e) 6).

To be sure, students rom Abbott districts are over-represented among SRA graduates. While just 15percent o all New Jersey graduates come rom Abbott districts, Abbott students account or 42 percent

o SRA graduates. Still, a majority o all SRA graduates, 58 percent, are rom non-Abbott districts. Over

the past ten years, rates o SRA use have increased more rapidly in the non-Abbott districts, while rates in

Abbott districts have stabilized, albeit at much higher levels.

By an almost 2 to 1 margin, more students use the SRA to satisy the required mathematics standards

than the language arts standards according to the New Jersey Department o Education SRA 2006

Annual Survey. This raises signicant issues about the states math curriculum and about opportunities to

learn, including access to certied math teachers and high quality instruction.

Is the administration and scoring o SRA consistent across districts?

No. While the state is responsible or developing and supplying the content o the SRA and the

PATs, districts and schools are responsible or organizing the administration o the SRA, providing

supplemental instruction to SRA students, and scoring SRA portolios in accordance with general state

guidelines. SRA student portolios must be submitted to the County Superintendents oces. However,

the growing numbers o students using SRA has long exceeded the capacity o County Oces to review

and monitor the SRA process closely. Some limited oversight and spot-checking o the process by the

NJDOE does occur. However, the lack o consistency and transparency across districts with respect to

SRA administration and evaluation appears to be a major actor undermining the SRAs credibility as an

assessment tool in some quarters.

I the SRA and HSPA are o comparable educational rigor, why do so many students ail one,

(HSPA) but pass the other (SRA)?

This is another question that has not been adequately researched. Since the content o the two

examinations is similar and o comparable diculty, it is important to determine why students who seem

unable to pass the HSPA ultimately pass the SRA. Is it a matter o dierential academic preparation or

support, test anxiety, timed vs. untimed testing situations and/or scoring dierences? Several possible

explanations, both positive and negative, have been oered, including:

> Inconsistency and the lack o review in scoring SRA portolios may dilute state standards, allowingmore students to pass;

> Students may perorm below potential on HSPA because they know the SRA alternative exists; or

> Given the particularly high ailure rate on the mathematics portion o the state examination, many

believe that SRA students have had inadequate access to rigorous mathematics curricula and/or

qualied mathematics educators.

Nw Jss SrA: lph ln? Frequently Asked Questions


9/72

On the other hand, the SRA program may be producing positive results by:

> Providing ongoing, in-school support and personalized, supplemental instruction to SRA students;

> Providing additional time to complete PATs;

> Allowing or fexible scheduling o SRA administration, providing more opportunities or students

with attendance issues;

> Using mastery learning approaches that provide multiple opportunities to succeed; or

> Providing a less intimidating, more supportive environment than ormal, standardized testing

situations which oten include:

The use o distracters among possible responses

Complex instructions which may impede optimal perormance, and

Cultural- or class-based reerences in test material that may refect dierential lie experiences or

background knowledge.

A national survey o alternative assessment practices ound that These concerns are especiallyimportant or students with learning dierences who may require dierent ormats to demonstrate their

knowledge. (Darling-Hammond et al, 2006, p. 16)

What would be the impact o eliminating SRA? Who would be most aected?

Available research and the experience o other states indicate that eliminating the SRA would

signicantly reduce high school graduation rates and increase the number o dropouts, particularly

among students in low-income districts, as well as Arican American, Latino and immigrant youth. Since

nearly 60 percent o SRA graduates come rom non-Abbott districts, it is clear that these eects would

be elt statewide and would almost certainly aect New Jerseys long-standing record o having one o

the nations best overall graduation rates and one o the best graduation rates or students o color. (Seepage 8.) A detailed analysis o graduation data rom three urban districts also suggests that the ollowing

student groups would be most vulnerable to negative consequences:

> English Language Learners;

> males more than emales;

> students who have had limited opportunities to learn in terms o course work and/or access to

qualied math educators;

> students who entered the New Jersey public schools during their secondary years;

> students with highly mobile amilies;

> immigrant youth;

> students who have diculties with timed tests; and

> students with disabilities, especially undiagnosed disabilities.



10/72

What are some arguments in avor o retaining SRA?

Supporters o the SRA note that in recent years, between 11,000 and 15,000 New Jersey students have

earned high school diplomas annually through the SRA. (New Jersey Department o Education, School

Report Card and SRA Annual Survey) They argue that it is in the best interests o these students, their

communities, and the state to keep them in school, on track to graduate, and eligible to pursue college

or other post-secondary options. Eliminating the SRA would raise dropout rates, lower graduation rates,

and disproportionately aect students o color. This would, almost by denition, constitute bad public

policy and would not help improve schools. Supporters also note that the SRA perormance assessment

tasks cover the same subject matter as the High School Prociency Assessment. I there are problems with

the consistency and reliability o the SRA process, these problems should be xed without eliminating it.

What are some arguments in avor o eliminating SRA?

Critics argue that the SRA is a orm o low expectations that allows students to get a diploma without

meeting the high standards needed or success in college and careers. Some also contend that the SRA

administration and scoring process are too inconsistent and too poorly monitored to be a reliablemeasure o prociency or state graduation standards. They believe that eliminating the SRA would be a

step toward raising expectations and standards or all New Jersey students.

What alternatives are there to eliminating SRA?

In May, 2007 the NJDOE presented several options to the New Jersey State Board o Education or

improving the consistency and reliability o the SRA process. These options included moving the

scoring o SRA portolios away rom schools and districts, where they may evaluate their own students,

to regional centers where educators, trained in using the states scoring rubrics, would evaluate SRA

perormance tasks on a blind and more technically veriable basis. This could improve the reliability

and transparency o the SRA process and increase its credibility as a measure o prociency o stategraduation standards. Districts and schools with a high number o SRA students would also be required

to develop plans to reduce those numbers.

There are other alternatives to placing greater reliance on a single high-stakes exam that can be drawn

rom the experience o the 17 other states that currently provide alternatives to high-stakes exit tests.

These alternatives include reporting exit exam scores on high school transcripts without using those

scores to deny diplomas to students who successully meet other graduation requirements; using multiple

measures, including standardized tests, course grades, and attendance requirements, to make graduation

decisions without any using any single measure to determine the decision; and developing perormance

assessment options or demonstrating prociency on state standards that are open to all students, not justthose who ail parts o the exit exam. (See page 9.)

How is SRA related to other secondary reorm issues?

While the debate over SRA raises specic issues about New Jerseys high school graduation policy and

assessment practices, in many respects it is a subtopic o a much broader discussion about secondary

reorm that is now taking place at both the state and national levels. The larger issue is what combination

o policies, programs, and reorms can eectively address the challenge o closing achievement gaps

Nw Jss SrA: lph ln? Frequently Asked Questions


11/72

while simultaneously raising expectations and achievement levels or all students. New Jersey has begun

to publicly discuss and debate these challenges with ambitious reorm eorts such as the High School

Redesign Steering Committee, the American Diploma Project, and the Secondary Education Initiative.

These eorts are still in the early stages o developing a coherent plan or implementation at the state,

district, and school levels. The SRA debate presents policymakers with the challenge o aligning changes

in the SRA with these larger reorm initiatives in ways that improve their prospects or success. (See

Appendix F.)

What is the timeline or revising or replacing the SRA?

In August 2005, the New Jersey State Board o Education adopted a resolution that proposed phasing

out the SRA beginning with the reshman class that entered in September, 2006 or language arts and

the entering reshman class in September 2007 or math. However, the State Board deerred nal action

on this tentative timeline and directed the Department o Education to develop alternative opportunities

or students to demonstrate the achievement o high school graduation requirements...[and] to present

these alternative opportunities to the State Board o Education or approval prior to the State Board oEducation taking any action to amend the Statewide Assessment System requirements in N.J.A.C. 6A:8-

4.1. With the proposed timeline or replacing SRA now upon us, the State Board is aced with another

round o decision-making.

However, the delay in reorming or replacing the SRA process has led to considerable uncertainty about

its current status. This all both reshmen and sophomore students and their teachers will return to

school uncertain about the availability o the SRA option as they approach graduation. Schools and

districts ace similar uncertainty about sustaining their supplemental instruction programs or potential

SRA students (some o which involve early identication o students in 9th and 10th grades). Schools and

districts will also need ample lead time to prepare or any new or alternative SRA process, as assessmentcalendars, instructional programs, and current testing practices will need to be reviewed and changed.

Another signicant consideration is the timeline or implementing the states Secondary Education

Initiative (SEI), a major secondary reorm eort currently underway to introduce college preparatory

curriculum, small learning environments and improved amily/student supports to all Abbott middle and

high schools. Current regulations call or implementing the SEI in Fall 2008. [See page 29.]

As the data presented in this report shows, more than a third o Abbott graduates currently receive their

diplomas through the SRA. Eliminating the SRA beore signicant and demonstrable improvements

are made in secondary programs and supports could have a major negative impact on graduation rates,

dropout rates, the SEI reorm eort, and the prospects or broader reorm.



12/72


13/72

Aeae Pas o Geea Edcao Sdes o Oba a Dpoma, 2006

Sae

AltErnAtivE MEthODS O EvAluAtiOn, WAivErS, Or APPEAlS Accommo-daos oGeeaEdcaoSdes

AeaeDpoma oCefcae

AeaeAssessme

Sbsetes

CoseGades

CassoomEdece

Ceabased

Alabama

Alaska

Arizona

Caliornia

Florida1

Georgia

Idaho

Indiana

LouisianaMaryland

Massachusetts

Minnesota

Mississippi2

Nevada

New Jersey3

New Mexico

New York

North Carolina

Ohio

Oklahoma4

South Carolina5

Tennessee

Texas

Virginia

Washington

FromCenteronEducationPolicyAugust2006report,StateHighSchoolExitExams:AChallengingYear.1GeneraleducationstudentsinFlorida,undercircumstancesdescribedinthatstatesprofle,mayuseasubstitutetestasanalternativemethodoevaluationtoobtainadiploma.Inaddition,Floridaprovidesacertifcateocompletionunderspecifcconditionsorstudentswhodonotmeettherequirementsoraregulardiploma.

2Mississippiusesanappealsprocesswherebystudentsmaysubmitcoursegrades,classroomevidence,orothercriteriaasevidencethattheyhavemasteredthesubjectbeingtested(MississippiDepartmentoEducation,2001).

3NewJerseysSpecialReviewAssessmentisbeingphasedoutorincomingreshmen.AsoJuly2006,thestatehadnotyetdeterminedeitheranalternateappealsprocessoratimelineorthisphase-out.

4Oklahomahasnotyetdeterminedwhichspecifcalternativemethodsitwilluse.5AlthoughSouthCarolinadidnotaddresstheissueocertifcatesinitssurveyresponse,thestatedoesgiveacertifcateoattendancetostudentswhodonotpassitsexitexam,accordingtocorrespondencebetweenCEPandastateofcial.

DATASOURCE:CenteronEducationPolicyexitexamsurveyostatedepartmentsoeducation,June2006,item13.

TablereproducedwithpermissionromDarling-Hammond,etal.(2006),p.11.

The SRA and New Jersey Graduation Policy Nw Jss SrA: lph ln?


14/72

testing program. Together these initiatives have led to renewed debate about New Jerseys Special Review

Assessment or SRA.

New Jersey is one o 25 states that currently require high school graduates to successully complete a

high-stakes state assessment to earn a diploma. It is also one o 17 o those same states that have adopted

alternatives or students who do not pass the traditional exit exam. (See chart, page 9.)

There are two primary ways o satisying New Jersey State graduation requirements: the High School

Prociency Assessment (HSPA) and the Special Review Assessment (SRA). Both the HSPA and the

SRA can be considered high-stakes exit examinations since students are required to pass one o these

examinations to graduate. Both also require that students successully accumulate at least 110 course

credits aligned with state standards and meet other local district requirements, and both require passing

grades in required courses in order to earn a high school diploma.

Originally conceived as an alternative way or students with special needs to demonstrate prociency

on state graduation standards, use o the SRA has steadily expanded since it was made available to all

students in 1991. In 2006, over 12 percent o all New Jersey graduates and 34 percent o graduates in

New Jerseys urban Abbott districts earned their diplomas by passing the SRA instead o the HSPA.

(New Jersey Department o Education, 2005-06 School Report Card and 2005-06 Fall Survey)

40%

45%

50%

55%

60%

65%

70%

75%

80%

85%

90%

South Carolina

Florida

New York

North Carolina

Indiana

Connecticut

Pennsylvania

Wisconsin

New Jersey

2001200019991998

MULTIPLE MEASURE STATES

TEST-ONLY STATES

Data from National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data. Graduation rates are calculatedas the number of graduates divided by the size of the 9th grade cohort 3.5 years earlier.

From Darling-Hammond, et al. (2005) Multiple Measures Approaches to High School Graduation;Table from Darling-Hammond et al. (2006) p. 19.

%o

fcohortgraduatingin4years

Graduation Rates in States Requiring Multiple Measures Approaches to Graduation Prior to 2001Compared to Test-Only States

Nw Jss SrA: lph ln? The SRA and New Jersey Graduation Policy

0


15/72

The growing use o SRA has spurred debate about its appropriateness as an alternative pathway to a New

Jersey high school diploma. Some have questioned the SRAs legitimacy as a measure o prociency on

state graduation standards. Others have challenged the reliability and consistency o SRA administration

and scoring across districts. Still others have suggested that the higher percentage o urban students o

color earning their diplomas through SRA amounts to a orm o institutionalized low expectations.

At the same time, supporters o the SRA option argue or multiple pathways to graduation, including

a perormance assessment strategy. They cite evidence that states with perormance alternatives have

higher graduation rates and lower drop out rates than those states with only a high stakes standardized

examination. (See graph on previous page.)

Other SRA supporters deend the rigor o the SRAs state-created perormance assessment tasks and its

essential equivalence to the HSPA and cite problematic issues associated with standardized tests, like the

HSPA. (See Appendix A or samples o the SRA Perormance Assessment Tasks.) They also emphasize the

importance o high school graduation as a key rite o passage or young people and a powerul indicator

o post-secondary outcomes in the areas o employment, health, civic participation, and encounters withthe criminal justice system. They stress the signicant role o the SRA in keeping students in school and

on track towards graduation.

SRA practices vary across schools and districts with regard to the calendar window or administrating

SRA, the instructional preparation students receive or it and the conditions under which the SRA is

given to eligible students. Technically, a student becomes eligible or SRA ater ailing one or more

portions o the HSPA in the Spring o his/her junior year. Ater HSPA scores are returned, schools are

required to give appropriate instruction to students who score below procient levels on any o the tests

three sections. Students must re-take at least twice all portions o the HSPA they have not completed

successully, while they simultaneously prepare or and complete the SRAs perormance assessment tasks.

While the content o both the HSPA and SRA are prepared at the state level, the school and the district

are responsible or designing and providing the required supplemental instruction or students who do

not pass HSPA and thereore pursue SRA. These supplemental instructional programs vary substantially

across districts. In addition, some districts use other assessments, including the Grade Eight Prociency

Assessment (GEPA) tests, or early identication o potential SRA students. Some districts make

remediation or other orms o test preparation part o the regular educational program, while others

require SRA students to attend ater-school and/or Saturday programs. Many districts use various orms

o grade retention to restrict the pool o students eligible or the graduation test. These approaches all

raise signicant educational issues that have less to do with the technical reliability o the SRA or theHSPA than with broader issues o secondary reorm.

In August 2005, ormer Education Commissioner William Librera asked the New Jersey State Board o

Education to eliminate the SRA option as a way o satisying state graduation requirements. In response

the State Board adopted a resolution calling or phasing out the SRA on a tentative timeline that would

limit the provision o the SRA process in language arts literacy to those students entering the ninth

grade prior to the 2006-2007 academic year and limit the provision o the SRA process in mathematics

The SRA and New Jersey Graduation Policy Nw Jss SrA: lph ln?


16/72

to those students entering the ninth grade prior to the 2007-2008 academic year. (New Jersey State

Board o Education, August 3, 2005)

In passing this resolution the Board acknowledged concerns about the rigor and reliability o the SRA

process, but also about the potential impact o eliminating it and o increasing reliance on a single high-

stakes exit exam. The State Board deerred nal action and directed the Department o Education todevelop alternative opportunities or students to demonstrate the achievement o high school graduation

requirements...[and] to present these alternative opportunities to the State Board o Education or

approval prior to the State Board o Education taking any action to amend the Statewide Assessment

System requirements in N.J.A.C. 6A:8-4.1. (New Jersey State Board o Education, August 3, 2005)

With the tentative timeline or replacing SRA now upon us, the State Board is aced with another round

o decision-making.

Despite much discussion o this topic, there has been little research on the role o the SRA in allowing

youth to meet New Jerseys graduation standards. Aside rom aggregate totals o the numbers o students

graduating through HSPA and SRA, little data have been gathered on the demographic characteristicsor educational experiences o these students, their access to opportunities to learn and their post-

secondary outcomes compared to those o high school dropouts. There has been no longitudinal study

o the educational careers or the comparative post-secondary outcomes or HSPA graduates, SRA

graduates and dropouts. One obstacle to data-driven policy analysis has been the long-noted absence o

a statewide, student-level database, which makes tracking student progress through New Jerseys K-12

system impossible. A telling example o the limitations this puts on inormed policy-making can be ound

in recent SRA history. In an attempt to answer some specic questions about the educational experience

o SRA students, and to determine to what extent their inability to pass one or more parts o the HSPA

was related to their high school course-taking patterns, state regulations since 2005-2006 have required

Abbott districts to submit:

a stud a studnts wh gaduatd b Spa rvw Assssmnt (SrA)Th stud sha nud a

vw th uss takn n gads 9-12, wth th gads ahvd, and th attndan d ah

a. Th sha b a dtmnatn th pptn SrA gaduats wh satsat mptd th

uss qud gaduatn and th ss n th HSPA tsts n ah dspn and ah tm th

tst was takn. [N.J.A.c. 6A:10A-3.2 () 6 Snda eduatn intatvs]

Despite this regulation, an Open Public Records Act request or such reports reveals that they were never

collected or compiled by the NJDOE. Although reliable inormation about the comparative outcomes and

educational experience o students leaving high school without a diploma, through SRA, and through

HSPA would seem to be a necessary ingredient or inormed public policy-making in this area, such

inormation is not readily available to either the public or state policy-makers.

In the ollowing section, we provide a synthesis o research we have gathered and undertaken to

illuminate the political and educational issues the SRA has raised.

Nw Jss SrA: lph ln? The SRA and New Jersey Graduation Policy


17/72

The SRA Research Project

In the Fall o 2006, a group o university researchers, educators, school district personnel, centraloce sta and educational advocates gathered to consider how we might participate in the graduation

policy deliberation by providing some policy-relevant data. With generous support rom the Schumann

Fund or New Jersey, we designed a research project to study current HSPA and SRA practices, document

the potential consequences o elimination o SRA and review the national literatures on exit examinations

and alternative assessment strategies. University researchers rom the Graduate Center, City University o

New York and Rutgers University joined with the Education Law Center and Project Grad to investigate

our empirical questions:

l. Who graduates via HSPA and SRA?

2. What are the possible ramications, in terms o disparate impact by race, ethnicity and

social class, on children and districts i the SRA were to be eliminated?

3. Why do students pursue the SRA?

4. To what extent do HSPA and SRA graduates, and high school dropouts, have dierent

post-secondary outcomes in the areas o higher education, work, health outcomes and

involvement in the criminal justice system?

To investigate these questions we undertook a multi-method research design that included:

> Review o NJDOE data sets containing historical and current inormation on the SRA, including

analysis at the level o district, school and race/ethnicity o individual students;> Interviews with Superintendents (seven Abbott and two non-Abbott district), central oce sta (ve

rom Abbott districts and three rom non-Abbott districts) and educators rom Abbott and non-

Abbott districts (nine);

> Substantive meetings with our senior administrators at NJDOE;

> Interviews with students and graduates o the SRA process and the HSPA process (n = 20);

> A detailed cohort analysis o academic outcomes o juniors in three school districts and the subgroup

among them who graduated via SRA by race/ethnicity, gender, academic history*; and

> A comprehensive review o proessional and scholarly analyses o exit examinations and alternatives,

and the economic and criminal justice outcomes or young adults who do not have a high school

diploma.

Interview data are introduced throughout the ndings.

Nw Jss SrA: lph ln?

* A report containing the complete ndings o a detailed analysis o the demographic characteristics and course-taking historieso SRA graduates in three school districts will be posted on the Education Law Center website in the coming months (Fine, M.et al., orthcoming).


18/72

Findings*

l. Who graduates via HSPA and SRA?

Note: Data on New Jersey graduates and SRA are drawn rom two NJDOE data sources that are not

entirely consistent with one another, the New Jersey School Report Cards and the NJDOEs Annual

SRA Survey. For example, New Jersey School Report cards provide a slightly lower total o just over11,000 SRA graduates or 2006 while the SRA Survey data indicate that there were over 13,000 SRA

graduates in 2006. (Sources o this inconsistency include dierent reporting streams [e.g., sel-reported

district and school data or School Report Cards vs. County Oce reports or the Annual SRA Survey]

and dierential application o denitions.) In describing SRA trends below we reerence both sources.

New Jersey School Report Card data indicate that or the academic year 20052006, New Jersey

graduated 89,858 students (New Jersey Department o Education, 200506 School Report Card and Fall

Survey). O the total graduating class o the state, 11,053 were SRA graduates according to School Report

Card tallies and 13,535 according to the 2006 Annual SRA Survey.

According to state documents, approximately 12.3 percent o all students graduate via SRA: 34 percentin Abbott districts, 15 percent in other poor districts, eight percent in middle income districts and three

percent in the most afuent districts.

The rates o SRA graduates per district vary, rom 4.6 percent o all graduates in Long Branch to

53.4 percent in Irvington, 53.6 percent in Pleasantville and 56.8 percent in East Orange. (New Jersey

Department o Education, 2005-06 School Report Card.) However SRA use has increased recently

among all New Jersey districts, and in act, at a higher rate in non-Abbott districts. (See chart opposite.)

Historically, the numbers o youth graduating via SRA have almost doubled in seven years, rising rom

7,925 in 1999 to 15,669 in 2005, and then declining somewhat in 2006. (NJDOE 2006 SRA Annual

Survey: Comparative Tables) There was a noticeable increase in 2002 when the High School Prociency

Test (HSPT) was replaced by a somewhat more challenging HSPA. While a popular misconception

persists that most o these students are English Language Learners or special education students, NJDOE

data reveal that or the 2006 cohort, the great majority, 87.2 percent, are general education students,

8.5 percent ELL/LEP and 4.4 percent in special education. (NJDOE SRA Annual Survey) Clearly the

SRA has been growing signicantly as an alternative pathway to a high school diploma or students in the

state o New Jersey. While over 40 percent o all SRA graduates come rom Abbott districts, the majority

o SRA graduates, 58 percent, live in non-Abbott school districts.

Nw Jss SrA: lph ln? The SRA Research Project

* In this section we have analyzed ocial state SRA graduation data or the state, or Abbott vs. various levels o non-Abbottdistricts and or varied groups within districts. Abbott districts are the 31 poorest urban school districts subject to a series ocourt-ordered remedies. Other Poor Districts belong to categories A and B in New Jerseys district actor groups (DFGs)refecting their predominantly low-income populations. Afuent Districts belong to the two wealthiest DFGs; Middle IncomeDistricts include all o the remaining public school districts.


19/72

SrA Gadao raes by Dsc Gopg, 1997-98 o 2005-06

Dsc Gopg 1997-98 1998-99 1999-2000 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 Cage

Abbott 18.8% 24.7% 31.1% 26.7% 27.8% 41.0% 42.8% 37.5% 34.0% +80.5%

Other Poor 7.6 9.0 12.5 10.2 10.2 20.8 20.4 18.4 15.1 +99.0

Middle Income 3.6 4.1 4.8 4.7 4.4 10.3 10.8 10.4 8.0 +124.2

Afuent 1.2 1.9 2.2 1.6 1.6 3.7 3.3 4.3 3.0 +144.0

New Jersey Total 6.1 8.0 9.8 8.6 8.7 15.4 15.8 14.9 12.3 +101.2

SOURCE:NewJerseyDepartmentoEducation,1997-98through2005-06SchoolReportCards.

As the chart above reveals, there was a sharp increase in the percentage o SRA graduates beginning

in 20022003 when the state shited graduation examination rom the HSPT to the HSPA. The largest

percentile growth in SRA graduates by district type has been in the non-Abbott districts.

As we scan the historic patterns, it is important to note that the HSPA ailure rates are disproportionately

high or the math section o the exam. Close to twice as many students complete their mathematics

standards via SRA as Language Arts, suggesting more serious ailure o the HSPA section o mathematics.

(SRA 2006 Annual Survey)

One community advocate we interviewed explained the situation as ollows:

in man th Abbtt dstts, math dpatmnts hav vaans that a nt fd. in u dstt, at

psnt, w hav u vaans ut 13 pstns. Studnts a bng taught b nn-tfd duats

n mathmats ng tm subs.

A research administrator interviewed in an Abbott district added:

Studnts a takng th mathmats ptn th HSPA p t takng sufnt dfut uss.

Basa th a takng a tst n mata th hav nv and. its n wnd that th dnt pass.

2. What are the possible ramications, in terms o disparate impact by race, ethnicity and social

class, on children and districts i the SRA were to be eliminated?

In addition to our review o SRA use across the state, we worked closely with a number o Abbott and

non-Abbott districts to determine more specically who graduates via SRA and thereore whose diploma

might be threatened were SRA eliminated. Three districts undertook detailed analyses o students

pathways to graduation. The ollowing summary o this work across districts provides consistent evidence

o disparate graduation pathways by race, ethnicity, class and community and the dierential impact opossible elimination o the SRA. While we identiy key groups o youth who would be most aected, it is

clear that these groupings overlap.

> Race, ethnicity and poverty. Students who graduate via SRA are disproportionately low income,

English language learners, Arican American, Latino and/or immigrant students.

> Students in Special Education and those with undiagnosed disabilities. Students with disabilities,

diagnosed and not, are most vulnerable i the state moves toward a single graduation examination.

The SRA Research Project Nw Jss SrA: lph ln?


20/72

A child study team member rom an Abbott district told us:

i usd t tst th studnts wh ad th HSPA tw and thn th SrA. Nn tms ut tn ths

ungsts had undagnsd anng dsabts. its a sham t sa th hav ad. Th psst, kp

tng and stugg thugh th wk and fna sud. And w gng t tak that awa m thm?

Th ddnt a, w dd!

> Students who are overage. Students who have been retained in grade at least once and are thereore

overage or grade level appear to be disproportionately likely to graduate via SRA.

> English language learners. Students or whom English is a second language are ar more likely to ail

the HSPA than students raised and educated with English as their primary language. Moreover, while

SRA perormance tasks are available in several languages, the HSPA is not oered in native languages

other than English. (Accommodations are made or translating HSPA directions, but not the test

itsel.) Thus, without the SRA, a substantial proportion o ELLs (English language learners) would

have signicantly reduced options to leaving high school without a diploma.

An Abbott Superintendent explained:

i th SrA w mnatd, su a sma ptn wud pass th HSPA. But gvn that a substanta

majt u studnts a Hspan [and] ag mmgant, SrA w mnatd th ell

ppuatn, Hspans, eastn eupans, th a aadma abW a an mmgant st t

wud b m dtmnta. evn th xt ut ell, th a nt pfnt b th jun a, nt n

ntnt aas. Hw an w gv a kd wh has bn h th as th sam xam as th kd wh has

bn asd n th U.S. spakng engsh and attndng sh 12 as?

> Students deprived o opportunities to learn. Across the state, we nd that those students who attend

schools in which they have been taught by long-term subs, or less than ully-certied educators, are

most likely to ail the HSPA. That is, students who have been deprived o opportunities to learn,

indeed reveal these deprivations on standardized tests.

An SRA teacher was asked what she would recommend to the State Board o Education about SRA and

she oered:

i wud sa tan th SrA and dnt k pp ut a han an duatn, and a han t gt

ut th wkng p ass. Dnt b s hgh and mght and k dwn n ths. Th ga nw s t

gt pp ut th wkng p and gvng dnt pang jbs and n wa dng that s t nsu

that th hav a hgh sh dpma. i dnt thnk w an ad t b sfshThats th mnmum. i

smbd wants t wk had nugh and d t, thn wh dn thm that pptunt.baus u

uptght mdd ass vaus. Just baus u hav a dg, a hus, gv smbd s a han t hav

a tt bt smthngts v naw mndd, baus u thnk smn shud st n hgh sh

u asid ath hav smn hav a hgh sh dpma than a gun.

An educator rom an Abbott district told us:

W ant bam studnts what th havnt bn taught.



21/72

A week later, a junior attending an Abbott high school, who had already passed the HSPA admitted:

i nv had Agba 1. i dnt knw hw i passd th HSPA i had a substtut tah wh usd t

v da and thn sh t. i just nv tk tand nw im gng t b a sn.

> Students whose amilies are mobile. Our cohort analysis rom the three districts indicates that

students who enter a school district during high school are more likely to graduate via SRA than thosewho have been stable within district.

An Abbott educator explained:

A kd avs m a md sh n th 9th gad h ant b snt dt t Agba 1. H nds

a a, taks gmt. Thn h as HSPA. Summ sh ant d t n sx wks. But h has td and

utmat suds? W gng t t hm h dsnt dsv a dpma?

> Students who do not perorm well on timed tests. There is an extensive literature on test anxiety,

stereotype threat and the conditions that undermine some students perormance on timed,

standardized examinations (see Appendix C).

A number o educators commented upon the SRA as a saety net or these students. As one educator noted:

Sm th hgh pmng dstts ant ad t t th SrA g th hav studnts wh ant pass

th HSPAand th ant a spa d kds. evn nds a vav t gt studnts ut hgh sh.

Ths dstts that hav 87 pnt passng and th 13 pnt wh dnt pass a pntag ths

a gd studnts wh mght vn knw th mata but ddnt pass th tst [HSPA] baus th tst-

takng sks baus th ant untn w und that tm nstant and stss.

An Abbott district superintendent summarized the words o his colleagues when he said:

N SrA? That wud just punsh th kds. W a spnsb ths mss. M kds m tw as bhnd

n kndgatn. W hav t sv thm w. And SrA ds that. SrA kds hav dn w. Wh shud hgh

sh mt studnts ptns? is t th aut i ant fnd a bg tah? Shud th pa th p?

***

As noted above, three Abbott districts undertook detailed analyses o their students graduation rates,

with a close look at who graduates via HSPA, SRA and who drops out. The three school districts were

all Abbott districts, urban, district actor group A, with large numbers o students who are Arican

American, Latino and/or immigrant, living in amilies with incomes below the poverty line. Substantial

numbers o students rom these districts graduate via the SRA process and hence are stakeholders in any

decision regarding possible elimination o SRA. All three districts have made special eorts to reach outto at-risk students.

The three school districts provided data rom each districts electronic student database and its State

o New Jersey Department o Education HSPA Reports. Student identiying inormation (name, DOB,

district ID number and demographics gender, ethnicity, ELL and/or special education status) rom the

district databases was cross-reerenced to test scores in Math and LAL or the Spring 11th grade, Fall

12th grade and Spring 12th grade HSPA reported in the NJDOE reports. The district databases were



22/72

also used, wherever possible, to obtain additional inormation, such as dates o entry into the district,

whether the student graduated the ollowing year and what Math and English courses s/he completed.

(See Appendix B or methodological details.)

Looking across the three districts, a number o patterns are evident:

l. For all three districts, passing rates on the rst administration or both the Math and LanguageArts Literacy subtests were much lower than those rates state-wide. These low rst-time passing

rates are characteristic o the Abbott districts.

2. At the rst administration, general education students had the highest passing rates on both

Math and Language Arts Literacy subtests o the HSPA. Special education and ELL students had

passing rates that were as much as orty percentage points lower in Math and sixty percentage

points lower in Language Arts Literacy. While the HSPA grants students in these subgroups special

accommodations (e.g. extended time, one on one testing, use o a translation dictionary), their

academic disadvantages are maniest.

3. All three districts had high percentages o students ocially considered to be juniors (3440%)who did not pass the HSPA and thereore entered the SRA process.

We were able to undertake even more detailed analyses in one o these Abbott districts where we ound

that SRA takers were disproportionately Limited English Procient (LEP) students, overage or their

grade, and had not successully completed Algebra II by the end o their junior year compared to their

HSPA graduating peers.

These data reinorce the statewide evidence available through the New Jersey Department o Education

SRA Survey. Whether we consider the data available statewide or within district, it is apparent that

the SRA provides an opportunity or English language learners, overage students, poor and minority

youth, students who move into the district while in secondary school, and students under-prepared in

mathematics to graduate by satisying state standards with prociency. In the next section, we hear why

these young people persist despite their academic disadvantages.

3. Why do students pursue the SRA ater having ailed the HSPA?

We conducted interviews with a sample o SRA graduates, educators and parents, as well as a number o

HSPA graduates and educators, in an eort to understand how students and aculty perceive the SRA and

why they might pursue the SRA as a pathway to graduation (see Appendix E on the GED alternative to

assess why students pursue SRA over GED).

The responses rom the SRA students and their teachers ell into three categories:

> a sense o pride and accomplishment;

> a resource or economic mobility; and

> a credential necessary or pursuing higher education.



23/72

Seeking Opportunity and Accomplishment: A desire or something better than hell

A young woman attending an alternative educational program in New Jersey, who has been working

toward her SRA, spoke about the racialized stigma o being denied a high school diploma:

Aan-Aman uth a aad abd as dp uts, and gng t ja, and u knw, vng n ghtts,

and stu k that, and thn th tak u dpma awa m us, thn hw s vn gng t vw us

nw? lk u ud sa w aad at th bttm th st. i u tak that dpma awa u mght as

w sa w gng t b n h. Baus thats hw vn s gng t k at usk w th dvs

kds.B thm dng thats just makng us k w than hw pp aad k at us.

An SRA educator echoed these sentiments in describing her SRA students:

on th fnsh, th wh wd xpands. on th ah suss n ths v, ts an pnng

hgh vsnsth nw thnkng, Mab i am smat, nbd td m i ud d ths. Mab i an

g athim nt gng t stp hi thnk im gng t gt m tfat mda thng,

a dnta assstantnw i want t g t M. it pns up a wh sstm, a d a t m

pssbts that mst ths studnts nv thught abut baus th assumd th w n th

bttm, and th w gng t sta n th bttm.

Other SRA students spoke about the sense o joy, accomplishment, pride and reedom attendant to

graduation or them personally and or their amily:

Gaduatng? iv bn takng abut ths v. its a t m baus sh hasnt bn a gd

m thughut m as. m t b gaduatng th a im suppsd t, and just gttng ut, thats

a and im just s happ. i was awas wng im nt gng t gaduat whn im suppsd t but

i mad t.

Atua th dpma s psna. i dd a ths as, i put n a ths tm, i want m dpmajust t

sa that i dd t, iv dn bn thugh sh

Nw that i d [hav] th knwdg, t wud man dm. it wud man a t t m am. At fst

t ddnt man nthng t m, a dpma was just a dpma. dm mans ut h, ut ths

nvnmnt, but vn i gt ut ths nvnmnt, vwh s k ths, ts dm th mnd.

lk im stuk h dng th sam thng v, havng a dpma u an g dnt pas. evn

thugh ts th sam, ts dnt.

Educators agree:

th pnt, th SrA s a savng ga, ts abut budng s-stm that th hgh sh dpma

gvs thm. Th nt thnkng th SrA s a jk. Th hav t wk t, tak th tm, mak th wa

t tak t.

Seeking Economic Mobility: Why a diploma?

Some SRA students are simply pragmatic. They know that they need a diploma to move ahead

economically or pursue higher education. Stated most simply,

Wh a dpma? What an u d wthut n?



24/72

Others were distressed to hear that the SRA was in jeopardy. A young person told us:

i had that th SrA was mab gn. M tah was sang nxt a u a th HSPA u gng

t gt a tfat nt a dpma. That dsnt mak an sns t m. its nt aBng a mans gvng

vn an qua pptunt. i wud btt abut ms gttng a dpma vs. a tfat.

i want t gt m [advand dg] Mst pas qu a hgh sh dpma. What i n hav a

tfat? What i want t g t g?

The diploma marks a launching pad, whether students have big dreams...

M hgh sh dpma s th fst stp m wnng m wn busnss and bng sussu

...or more modest goals:

i thught th w suppsd t b budng us up, w suppsd t b th utu, but th nt,

th tak that dpma awa. Hw an w g anwh n wthut a dpma? i dnt thnk u an

wk at MDnads wthut a hgh sh dpma. i thnk that u hav t hav a hgh sh dpma t

wk at MDnads. Wh an w gt a jb at? Nwh. S that hgh sh dpma s a t.

One young person told us:

i dfnt knw m m sht xpn wth wk, a dpma hps u gt pas. lk a t th

pas w ask u at th mnmum a hgh sh dpma, thws u gng t b stuk wth $7

an hu, $8 an hu jbs.

And a number o the SRA graduates are determined to go to college:

i ant vn g t g wthut a hgh sh dpma s thats a t.

While young people are assessing their uture economic and educational potential, so are their teachers.

An educator in an alternative program predicted dire consequences i the SRA were eliminated:

eth th hav t hav th SrA m up wth anth atnatv tst...A t kds a aad gng

thugh th unmpmnt n. A agu addd, Ths kds hav gt t gt a hgh sh dpma. yu

hav t nsu that th gng t mak nugh mn t v dnt mda a, husng, d.

SRA as Educational Persistence: I have learned a lot about picking mysel up.

A series o in-depth interviews were conducted with students participating in a college-bound scholarship

program, in order to understand the reasons behind and motivations o students who pursue SRA.

The ve young women and men are all headed to college at NJIT, College o Fashion, West Virginia

University, RutgersNewark and Bloomeld College. Three needed to pass the SRA in math in order to

graduate (those attending the College o Fashion, Rutgers and Bloomeld).

Interestingly, the two who graduated via HSPA had taken trigonometry and pre-calculus, while the

three SRA graduates took Algebra and Geometry. More important, however, is that despite the dierent

curricular pathways, all ve students exhibit high levels o persistence and commitment to higher

education and a deep sense o responsibility or their own learning.


0


25/72

When asked about how well prepared they are or college, the two HSPA grads indicated high levels o

condence, while the SRA grads were somewhat ambivalent about their levels o preparation:

i am nt as ad as i shud b

Sm th asss hav ppad m, sm hav nt

But all ve students elt compelled to give positive advice to incoming ninth graders:

> Gt sus. Stud, stud and stud sm m. (HSPA gaduat)

> D nt pa aund. Th gads th gt m th bgnnng unt u w hav t wk xta had

u gt a w GPA fst a. (SrA gaduat)

> Dnt just st bak; wk t gt th bst gads u an m th stat. (HSPA gaduat)

> T u bst, nv gv up n us. S-nfdn an g ang wa t hp u kp gng vn

whn thngs gt tugh. (SrA gaduat)

> Th a sm pp (tahs and ths) wh w hp u. it ma b ugh but u an mak t. i

dd and i am. (SrA gaduat)

The SRA graduates in particular spoke with a kind o wisdom about the importance o overcoming tough

times and persisting against the odds. Kelly is headed to RutgersNewark in nursing, but in refecting on

her past she admitted:

i shud hav knwn m whn i tk th HSPA. i had nt studd and wkd as had as i shud

[but] i had a t ups and dwns n ths u as. i hav and a t abut pkng ms up. i as

and that th a pp wh a a.

Likewise Khaburr, heading to Bloomeld College to study criminal justice, explained:

i was supsd that i dd nt pass [th HSPA]. i thught i was ppad [but] i and that i hav t

wk and put th a t. i w tak th tta u as [n th Nwak hgh sh] and us t t hp

m at Bmfd.

At the intersection o low preparation or mathematical rigor and a relentless desire to complete high

school and pursue higher education, these young women and men testiy to the drive to achieve, even in

dicult circumstances.

An administrator in an alternative school refected on the persistence exhibited by these students:

Th studnts i s g thugh th SrA pss a put a t t nt t. its nt k thv

bn gvn th thng and th mstus mad t thugh.iv sn studnts tak 90 mnuts t gt

satsat suts that mght tak smn s 15 mnuts but th psvan and dtmnatn th

shw i thnk mans m than t ds smn passng th HSPA.

Similarly, an urban parent described the role o SRA in preparing her son or graduation:

i k th at that th want u t b pfnt at smthng s u knw what u dng. yu dnt

want anbd gvn anthng. M sn gaduatd stda and t was v n. it was had wk. H am

m a cath sh 9th and 10th gad and pub sh 11th and 12th. H had t d vthng



26/72

n a ush, s whn h tk th HSPA th fst tm h tk t n th 11th gad and h mssd t b fv

pnts s h had t tak th SrA.

i nuagd hm t tak th SrA baus t was atua hpng hm, t was atua gundwk th

HSPA. Th summ 11th gad h wnt nt an nhmnt us n SrA s h wud knw what h

was dng s i thnk thats what hpd hm pass....H was takng th SrA dung th sh tm, h was

gttng nd t, ght and nt, whh i thught was a gd da... th SrA, h vn wnt

t sh n Satudas t hp hm pass ths tst. Whn t gt s t th tm, th statd dng v

Satuda. H was gng 45 mnuts b sh, and 3:30-4:30 at sh. H kd n a t hus.

yu gt t b wng t d t.

H knw h ddnt pass ths us h wasnt gng t gaduat and h knw that gaduatn was v

mptant. And ths hpd hm, a kd that wasnt pannng t g t sh, and nw hs gng t essx

cunt cg.

4. How do HSPA and SRA graduates, and dropouts, are on post-secondary outcomes in the

areas o higher education, work, health and involvement in the criminal justice system?

Critics o the SRA have argued that the HSPA is a more valid standard with stronger predictive validity

in terms o college-going and economic success. Yet, in the absence o a longitudinal student database

that can track student progress through graduation and beyond, these contentions are without empirical

substantiation. For graduation policy to be ully data driven, it is critical that New Jersey establish a

database that can be used to document the post-secondary consequences o the HSPA diploma, the SRA

diploma and dropping out. At this point, New Jersey has no technical capacity or assessing any post-

secondary outcomes even though many presume that the HSPA would predict better lie trajectories. In

act, or young people graduating rom the same districts, we really dont know i HSPA graduates are

better, worse or the same as their SRA peers.

New Jersey graduation policies should be inormed by comparative data on the course-taking patterns

o HSPA grads, SRA grads and dropouts and by longitudinal data on post-secondary outcomes or these

groups. With such data, policymakers and the New Jersey Department o Education could map the

geographic and racial/ethnic/class distribution o opportunities to learn, graduation pathways and post-

secondary outcomes by race, ethnicity, immigration status, community, etc.

Such analysis is necessary to document why some students graduate via HSPA or SRA and why others

drop out. It could also shed light on why many end up in remedial courses in college and help determine

i the courses taken by students infuence dierent pathways to graduation and dropping out. Such

a database would enable policy makers, community members, educators and researchers to assess

who takes Algebra I and II, and at what point in his/her career. Who does and doesnt have access to

certied mathematics instruction? Science instruction? Foreign language? To what extent does access to

opportunities to learn vary by race, ethnicity, community and type o school?

Such a research design would allow policy makers, educators, parents, employers and community

members to know whether or not the HSPA is actually a stronger predictor o academic success or

economic well being than the SRA. Ater many years o delay and preparation, plans are reportedly



27/72

in place to begin assembling such a longitudinal student-level database. Given that it will be several

additional years beore the relevant data described above will be available, in the interim it would be

prudent to move cautiously in making graduation policy changes with high-stakes consequences or

students and school communities.

The case or caution, especially with regard to adopting policies that may increase dropout rates, isunderscored by what is already known rom national studies and databases. (See Appendices C &

D or a review o this literature.) It has been well documented that becoming a high school dropout

has signicant negative impact, particularly or poor and/or immigrant young adults who are Arican

American or Latino. Decades o national research chronicle the serious adverse consequences o dropping

out on young adults, particularly young adults o color, in terms o economic, health and criminal justice

outcomes. We know that young people who are poorly educated and without a high school diploma have

little chance o economic success and substantial chance o incarceration, particularly i they are Arican

American or Latino (Petit and Western, 2004). It is air to conclude that high school dropouts in New

Jersey, as in the nation, have ar worse lie outcomes than either HSPA or SRA graduates.

A deeper look at comparative outcomes or HSPA and SRA graduates could also shed light on the impact

o dierent orms o educational assessment. While the existing SRA may have only some eatures o

a ully developed perormance assessment system, there is a growing body o research and experience

indicating that perormance assessment systems may have substantial potential or improving student

achievement and outcomes at the secondary level particularly or urban students o color.

In a recent issue oPhi Delta Kappan (Foote, 2007), Martha Foote traces the post-secondary eects

o perormance assessment graduation policies on students who attend and graduate rom a series o

small public high schools in New York. Foote reviewed the college transcripts o 666 graduates rom

teen New York State public high schools involved with the Perormance Standards Consortium. Theseschools received a state variance to use their own system o perormance assessment in lieu o New York

States Regents exams. In order to graduate rom any Consortium high school, students must complete

a rigorous series o perormance assessment tasks and deend them to a panel o external assessors

including teachers, university proessors, community members and other students. Consortium schools,

on average, have more students o color, more students who qualiy or ree or reduced lunch, more

students receiving special education services, and more entering ninth- and tenth-grade students scoring

below the state standard on reading and mathematics tests than the average New York City high school.

According to Foote, these schools also have ar lower dropout rates and higher graduation and college-

going rates than the New York City average.

Footes longitudinal analysis involved a review o college transcripts, trying to assess the predictive

validity o a perormance assessment diploma. The results reveal that 77 percent o the students who

graduated via perormance assessment went on to attend our-year colleges, 19 percent two-year colleges

and our percent attended vocational or technical schools. Across institutions, while persistence rates

were slightly higher or students attending our year than two year colleges, a ull 78 percent enrolled or

a second year o college and maintained an average GPA o 2.7. When comparing Consortium students

to New York Citys high school graduates, the perormance assessment graduates were more likely to



28/72

graduate, go onto college and persist into their sophomore year than demographic peers who attended

Regentsbased schools where they have to pass ve high-stakes standardized examinations in order to

graduate. Further, Consortium students (depending on high school) were, on average, less likely than

their demographic peers to be mandated to remedial coursework once they arrived at a college campus

particularly in the area o Writing. Foote nds that the Consortiums emphasis on in-depth perormance

assessment, in act, prepares students or the rigors o college by simulating the kinds o tasks they will

need or college success.

A critical eature o accountability within the Perormance Standards Consortium schools is the

longitudinal tracking o students attendance and persistence in higher education. (See Appendix C

or details.) The Consortium schools systematically collect data to refect on student perormance and

the perormance o their schools over time and into higher education. Foote argues that Proo o an

assessment systems predictive validity [requires] data correlating the passage o specic assessments with

subsequent perormance in school, college or the work orce. (Foote, 2007)

While we cannot necessarily equate the SRA perormance tasks with the Consortium schoolsaccountability system, Footes analysis is signicant in two respects. First, the research demonstrates

that the predictive validity o a perormance assessment diploma may be equivalent to, or in some

cases superior to, that o a diploma based on a standardized exit examination. Second, and as

important, Footes work signies the importance o longitudinal, student-level databases or inorming

accountability decisions.



29/72

New Jersey Policies in the National Context

I we eliminate the SRA, we will have more dropouts. No doubt. And ater the

act well look back. We cant have regrets on the backs o these young people.

a New Jersey District Superintendent

As o 2006, 25 states have moved toward implementing exit examinations, although variationamong these policies is great. Some exams are pitched at the minimum competency level, while others

are more rigorous. Some are embedded in coursework and others are independent o course content. In

a systematic review o exit exam policies, the Center on Education Policy (CEP) reports that with ew

exceptions, over the past ew years states that have been implementing exit examinations are moving

toward greater fexibility and multiple options.

The research shows that states which require high stakes exit examinations (HSEEs) tend to havedisproportionately high rates o English Language Learners, students who are Latino or Arican

American, and students who are low income. We summarize the eects here and review the literature

systematically in Appendix C. Across sites and studies, the implementation o single high-stakes exit

examinations has been ound to produce a series o unintended but extremely problematic outcomes:

> Rapid rise in drop out and push out rates, disproportionately or students o color, English language

learners and students who have not received adequate opportunities to learn;

> Swelling o 9th grade enrollments, with students held back numerous times;

> Selective admission, rejection and push out o students with academic diculties;

> Diverted resources and attention paid primarily to students identied as close to passing;

> Schools, particularly low-perorming schools, organize themselves toward administrative compliance

rather than improved instruction;

> Decreased instructional time and increased testing time, oten at the expense o electives, internships,

music and the arts; and

> Narrowed curricula with a decreased ocus on critical thinking and inquiry projects.

These consequences tend to be more pronounced in low-perorming high schools and more adverse or

students growing up in poverty who are Arican American or Latino.

The long-term negative consequences, both individual and social, o decreased graduation rates and

increased dropout rates are equally well-documented. In the absence o more detailed data about New

Jersey youth, we summarize here the national studies about the impact o the so-called diploma penalty,

refecting the crucial links between a high school diploma and outcomes in education, economic status and

mobility, health and criminal justice status. (Appendix D oers a more detailed account o this literature.)

Nw Jss SrA: lph ln?


30/72

In brie, there is a substantial literature documenting:

Economic consequences associated with a high school diploma

> Students who do not graduate rom high school earn annually an average o $9,2000 less than high

school graduates (Bridgeland, DiIlulio and Morison, 2006) , equating to approximately $270,000

earnings over a lietime.> Students who do not graduate rom high school, compared to graduates, are signicantly more

likely to receive public assistance, to have children who drop out o high school, and to become

discouraged workers who do not participate in the legitimate labor orce at all.

> These outcomes are substantially worse or Arican Americans and Latinos than or White

young adults.

Health outcomes associated with a high school diploma

> Young adults who do not graduate rom high school have ar worse health outcomes than peers who

do graduate, in terms o early death, accidents, communicable diseases and chronic illness (Molla,

Madans and Wagener, 2004; Fiscella and Franks, 2004); high blood pressure, diabetes, asthma,

cancer, obesity, and having a low-birth-weight baby; and are more likely to become parents during

their teen years (Fine and McClelland, 2006).

> Young adults who do not graduate rom high school have worse health outcomes and are ar more

dependent on public health insurance or have no insurance at all.

Criminal justice outcomes associated with a high school diploma

> Young adults who do not graduate rom high school are ar more likely to be involved with

the criminal justice system than those who graduate; this is particularly and strikingly so or

Arican Americans.> In 1999, White men without high school diplomas had a 14 percent cumulative risk o death or

incarceration by ages 2034, compared to 62 percent o Arican American men without high

school diplomas (Petit and Western, 2004).

Whether we consider educational, economic, health or criminal justice outcomes, the absence o a high

school diploma has signicant adverse consequences on young women and men particularly on

Arican American males. (See Appendix D or detailed review.)

In response to these adverse outcomes, the Center on Education Policy has ound that many states, now

require districts to use a state- or district-developed exam as one actor in deciding whether students

graduate rom high school, but ailing that test alone does not prevent a student rom graduating.

(Italics added.) To cite a ew examples, Arizona, Washington and Maryland have recently added

alternative paths, with Arizona or instance allowing students to augment their test scores by using

course grades.

Beyond state and district trends toward multiple measures, there is a long-standing and well-documented

proessional consensus warning against the singular use o standardized tests to make high stakes

decisions about students and schools. Joining the chorus o national organizations voicing concerns about

Nw Jss SrA: lph ln? New Jersey Policies in the National Context


31/72

the deleterious eects o high stakes assessments, the National Research Council concludes: Scores

rom large-scale assessments should never be the only scores o inormation used to make a promotion or

retention decision.test scores should always be used in combination with other sources o inormation

about student achievement. (Heubert and Hauser, 1999, p. 286). So too, the American Psychological

Association, along with the American Educational Research Association and the National Council on

Measurement in Education argue that single assessments constitute unstable measures and should not

be used as a sole determinant or major decisions such as promotion, retention, tracking, or graduation.

Specically, the American Psychological Association states that:

Tsts, whn usd pp, an pvd th mst sund and bjtv was t masu studnt

pman. But testing is only part of the formula for quality learning. Tstng ught t b pat a

sstm n whh bad and qutab ass t duatna pptunt and advanmnt s pvdd t

a studnts.

Turning to the research literature on high stakes exit examinations (reviewed in Appendix C), in a

comprehensive review o empirical studies o high stakes exit examinations, Warren, Grodsky, Lee, and

Kulick (2005) nd that:

th appas t b pwu suppt th asstn that stat HSees [Hgh Sh ext examnatns]

a ndpndnt assatd wth ats hgh sh mptn. cmptn ats (hwv masud)

are simply much lower in states with HSEE policies. xamp, th gaduatng ass 2000 th

mdan stat hgh sh mptn atwas 73 pnt stats wth n HSee but n 61 pnt n

stats wth HSees. (p. 9, tas addd)

Further statistical analysis indicates that the number o high school-aged students who attempt the GED

is also aected by state HSEE policies. According to this analysis, states with high-stakes high school exit

examinations have lower graduation rates and greater reliance upon the GED than states without high

stakes exams or states with alternative examinations in place.

Warren et al. argue that states that typically adopt HSEE policies ironically worsen the very conditions

they are attempting to resolve. For instance, states with higher unemployment rates and greater ethnic/

racial population compositions are more likely to implement HSEEs than more homogeneous states,

presumably in order to improve their economic circumstances and educate a diverse student body. Yet,

with advanced statistical analyses, Warren and colleagues nd no evidence that state HSEEs impact

rates o unemployment or labor orce participation among 20 to 23 year-olds with no post-secondary

schooling and no signicant net association between HSEE policies and earnings (ibid., p. 38.) To the

extent that HSEE policies do help educate a more diverse student population, Warren and his colleagues

have ound that, ater an extended period o research:

th stngth th negative assatn btwn stat HSee ps and hgh sh mptn ats

increases as pvt ats nas and as th dmgaph mak-up th stat ms t nud m

aa/thn mnts. (p. 39, tas addd)

That is, in districts that are predominantly low-income and serving students o color, HSEE policies are

associated with lower high school graduation rates.

New Jersey Policies in the National Context Nw Jss SrA: lph ln?


32/72

Finally, in studies that attempt to determine the impact o HSEEs on actual student achievement (actual

growth in subject matter knowledge) (Grodsky, Warren, and Kalogrides, 2005; Warren et al., 2005),

Warren et al. conclude that there is no viable evidence that, in the 1990s, HSEEs have signicantly

improved student knowledge o reading, mathematics or science.

The New Jersey administrators and educators whom we interviewed or this study varied in their views othe HSPA and the SRA, and yet came to the same conclusion as Warren and colleagues: that testing must

be only one eature and not solely determinative o graduation decisions.

A high-ranking DOE ocial told us in an interview:

Th hdn hav th knwdg, ts just that th dnt dmnstat t n th HSPA. Pman

assssmnts a a muh m vad ndat s man u hdn. Th must b an atnatv wa.

Nw Jss SrA: lph ln? New Jersey Policies in the National Context


33/72

The SRA and New Jersey Secondary Reorm

The debate over the SRA refects larger national and state debates about secondary reorm. At thesame time that New Jersey is considering changes in high school graduation policy, it has launched two

ambitious secondary reorm initiatives.

One, led by the High School Redesign Steering Committee, is the American Diploma Project (ADP), a

national eort by business, university, and political leaders to restore value to the high school diploma

by raising the rigor o the high school standards, assessments and curriculum and better aligning these

expectations with the demands o postsecondary education and work. The ADP refects growing

concerns o business and higher education leaders about the readiness o high school graduates or

success in college and careers.

The other reorm eort, the Secondary Education Initiative (SEI) grew out o New Jerseys Abbott

process, which established state constitutional standards or equity in school unding and educationalopportunity. SEI was developed by a collaborative workgroup o educators, NJDOE ocials, academic

experts, and community stakeholders in response to an Abbott X mediation agreement that required a

new program o secondary reorm to address gaps in student achievement and educational opportunity.

The SEI ramework is currently part o Abbott regulations governing 31 o the states poorest urban

districts and requires that by Fall 2008, all students in Abbott districts in grades 612 have access to

college preparatory curriculum aligned with state standards, small learning environments including

teacher teams paired with a cohort o students over multiple years, and a system o amily/student

advocacy to personalize school experience and provide increased academic and social supports or

all students.

These reorm initiatives involve numerous challenges and raise many educational issues that go beyond

the scope o this paper. (See Appendix F.) However, the SRA debate shows clearly that overlapping

reorm initiatives with related goals must be part o a coherent policy whole i they are to complement,

rather than confict with each other.

For example, the proposed timeline or phasing out the SRA begins with the reshman class that entered

in September, 2006 or language arts and the entering reshman class in September, 2007 or math.

Yet current Abbott regulations set a target o

Date post:	30-May-2018
Category:	Documents
Upload:	education-justice
View:	220 times
Download:	0 times

New Jersey Special Review Assessment

Documents