Timely Reports for Parents.

With the changes in the Executive Branch, NCLB will change, but how?  The Eduguru is continuing a series of blogs on the problems opponents have had with NCLB and what they might or should do about them now.

The sixth is practical:  Timely reports for parents.

The aspect of NCLB that may be the farthest from being implemented well is the timely reporting of AYP results for parents to make school choice decisions.  The culprit is the long cycle time for scoring assessments.

Pushing the testing dates earlier in the school year diminishes the validity of the results for parents.

This requirement is one that should not be changed.  The states and assessment companies need to rethink their processes to reduce the cycle time for scoring and reporting.  Granted, all states pile up with their testing and scoring needs during the same time period.  How can Texas get millions of tests scored and reported back to schools within a few weeks and other states require much longer?  Negotiation skills and money.

The states with the best cycle time are those that manage their processes on the front end the best.  Pre-coding accurately and shortly before testing.  Using the assessment contract as a vehicle for scoring, not for collecting demographic and other student data that should already be in the state’s data store.  Ensuring schools provide compliant answer documents that will not require trouble shooting by the scoring service.

The Eduguru speaks:  There’s plenty of money in the system for timely scoring and reporting.  This is a case where processes need to be improved to reduce cycle time.