WKCE Doesn't Help My Child, Parents Say

From the Great Lakes Center for Education Research and Practice

Support for the much-debated, high-stakes Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Exam (WKCE) is lukewarm in Wisconsin, with the vast majority of parents saying the test is not used to help their child, according to a study released Tuesday (November 16, 2004) by the Great Lakes Center for Education Research and Practice.

The lack of parental enthusiasm and interest in such tests has a lot to do with lack of knowledge about their purpose (less than 20% claim they know what such tests are designed for) and having different priorities for their children's education (only 1% of those asked listed standardized test scores as being an important indicator of whether a child is getting a good education), the study showed.

High stakes testing is the pillar of education reform under the national law often referred to as the "No Child Left Behind" act (NCLB). The WKCE is used to determine whether a school is meeting “adequate yearly progress,” under the NCLB law. Yet, despite all of the time and money spent on the testing process, one out of four parents do not know what the results are used for and almost three out of four do not even discuss the WKCE during parent-teacher conferences.

Parents rate grades, report cards, and classroom tests as the most important indicators of whether their child is getting a quality education. Their child's interest in and attitude about school follow.

"Standardized tests alone don't meet the needs of students and parents, yet teachers and schools are spending more time, energy and money on them than ever," said Teri Moblo, director of the Michigan-based Great Lakes Center. "Standardized testing is not a bad thing if it is one of many ways that student progress is assessed. But we must find better ways to use such tests to help individual children, and we must address the other things that parents believe are even more important for their kids."

Parents are more concerned about self-esteem, desire to learn, work ethic, and motivation when it comes to influencing their child's success, the study showed.

The study was commissioned by the Great Lakes Center in conjunction with the Your Child coalition. It looks at parental involvement in education in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin. The study of 1,700 parents, conducted by Michigan-based EPIC-MRA in early October, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3%.

Here are the major findings on high stakes testing:

• Only 20% of the parents surveyed believe that their child's test results will actually be used to specifically help their child improve in school.
• Only one-third of parents believe that such tests provide a good measure of their own child's abilities.
• Two-thirds of parents do not discuss standardized tests at parent-teacher conferences. This raises the question of how valuable the tests are if parents and teachers aren't talking about the tests/results for each child.
• Only 1% of parents listed standardized test scores as being an important indicator of whether their child is getting a good education.
• Of parents asked, only 18% claim they know what such tests were designed for and 25% do not know what the results are used for.
• When asked what their child needs in order to be successful, parents did not mention standardized test scores.
• One in four parents say schools spend either too much or too little time prepping kids for tests.
• A large segment of parents still don't seem to be in agreement on how standardized test results ought to be used.
• One in three parents asked feel that rewards such as increased funding from the state or higher property values based on a school's test results is a bad idea.
• One in three parents asked feel that the current state and federal government consequences under NCLB for schools that perform poorly on such tests are a bad idea.
• The study found that parents who say they did poorly taking similar tests (one in four) when they were in school were twice as likely not to go on to college as those who did well on such tests. This raises the issue of whether test scores might hold their children back from getting the education/training needed in today's competitive job market.

"What this study suggests is that while parents don't reject standardized tests, they don't seem to be in agreement on how useful the tests are or how they benefit their individual children. Parents are concerned that time and energy spent on tests ought to directly benefit their children today instead of children in the future," according to Ed Sarpolus, Vice-President of EPIC-MRA.

Posted November 17, 2004