Precision and utility: Doorey's Q&A on DSTP's replacement

Delaware is finally abandoning the unpopular Delaware Student Testing Program (DSTP) for one that more fairly measures student growth.

It will be piloted next spring, to roll out for the 2010-2011 school year.

The biggest criticism of the DSTP is that it is all-or-none: students get just one shot to pass it, and the ramifications of failing are not good. Results are matched against federal "No Child Left Behind" standards, which get stiffer every other year. Missing the mark brings school ratings down, and sometimes keeps students from graduating.

DSTPs are especially harsh for schools like Darley Road Elementary, serving at-risk, mobile, multiple-language populations, said Nancy Doorey, former State Board of Education member and current Assessment Task Force parent representative.

"It broke my heart [when] school ratings came out and they got ‘needs improvement,'" she said. "Those kids had made phenomenal growth.”

Under the Delaware Comprehensive Assessment System (DCAS), students will get three shots. More importantly, it will measure growth. The test will be computer-adaptive: if a student keeps answering questions right, they get harder. If he gets them wrong, it adjusts down to hone in on where he is performing and what he needs to improve.

Doorey talked with the Community News about the test after a May 11 forum at Alexis I. duPont High School where she outlined the DCAS.

How is DCAS better than the DSTP?
It will be a far more student-friendly and accurate assessment system, more motivating to kids. And it will give us clearer, more useful information so we can help all kids. Regardless of where they are right now, it gives better information about how to help them get to the next level.

Will ‘teaching to the tests’ end?
To some extent, yes, because the teacher will get specific information about where a child is – not just the fifth grade standards they have to get – and what they need next instructionally. Also, for the kid who’s above grade level, it gives information about what they need to challenge them.

What is computer adaptive testing?
The first question I throw at you is at grade level. You got it right. The next question I ask is harder. You get that one right. The next one is harder. You get that one wrong, so the next one will be in between those two. It adapts, based on your answer, to zero in. Instead of giving every student the same five questions, they get questions that zero into where you really are.

Is this test easier than the DSTP?
No, it is simply more precise. In some ways, it is harder because the DSTP fifth grade test is all fifth grade questions. [With DCAS] if you get the fifth-grade questions right, I’m taking you to sixth, seventh, eighth – I’ll follow you as far as you can go. In Oregon, some of the higher-end kids were saying, ‘I don’t like this so much. Some of these questions I didn’t know.’ It’s supposed to be that way.

How does it measure school and teacher accountability?
It will give us a more accurate measure. A couple years ago, a couple schools in the city were under restructuring; two actually had kids on the path to proficiency. They were doing some tremendous things, but they were being restructured. That’s counterproductive for kids … and really demoralizing for the school. We will be asking the feds for a fully adaptive test … to get the most information we can about the rate kids are growing.

What about the infamous DSTP stress-level, is relief in sight?
There will be less stress and fatigue. With the DSTP, each subject (reading, math and writing), takes four hours. With DCAS, each will take about one and a half. The big thing is, it’s not once a year. Right now [under DSTP], adults are all nervous: 'we have one chance, our whole school rating is dependent on how you do that one day.’ There’s all this hype, and kids get stressed out. This [DCAS] is different. Teachers decide when kids are ready. They have three opportunities [in fall, midyear or spring]. Now, it becomes a part of instruction.

How much will the new test cost?
We don’t know for sure, but based on what other states are paying, we ought to be able to do this for roughly the same as the 2007 DSTP, which is $10 million. But, imagine. You’re trading in a one-time test with late results for one with all the formative pieces, the growth measure. You’re getting a lot more for your money.