[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 134 (Tuesday, October 24, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10906-S10908]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
EDUCATION IN TEXAS
Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, today a very interesting release was made
of a study on education in Texas by the Rand Corporation. I will read
some parts from this.
I ask unanimous consent that the executive summary of the Rand
Corporation's study that was released today be printed in the Record
after my remarks.
[[Page S10907]]
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
(See Exhibit 1.)
Mr. HARKIN. What did this Rand study show? Let me read the first
couple paragraphs:
What Do Test Scores in Texas Tell Us?
Do the scores on high-stakes, statewide tests accurately
reflect student achievement? To answer this critical
question, a team of RAND researchers examined the results on
the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS), the highest-
profile state testing program and one that recorded
extraordinary gains in math and reading scores.
The team's report, an issue paper titled ``What Do Test
Scores in Texas Tell Us?'', raises ``serious questions''
about the validity of those gains [in Texas]. It also
cautions about the danger of making decisions to sanction or
reward students, teachers and schools on the basis of test
scores that may be inflated or misleading.
It continues:
To investigate whether the dramatic math and reading gains
on the TAAS [the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills]
represent actual academic progress, the researchers compared
these gains to score changes in Texas on another test,
the National Assessment of Educational Progress. The NAEP
tests were used as a benchmark because they reflect
standards endorsed by a national panel of experts, they
are not subject to pressures to boost scores, and they are
generally considered the nation's single best indicator of
student achievement. Both the TAAS and the NAEP tests were
administered to fourth and eighth graders during
comparable four-year periods.
According to the Rand study: The ``stark differences'' between the
stories told by NAEP and TAAS are especially striking when it comes to
the gap in average scores between whites and students of color.
According to the NAEP results, that gap in Texas is not only very large
but increasing slightly. According to TAAS scores, the gap is much
smaller and decreasing greatly.
``We do not know the source of these differences,'' the researchers
state. But one reasonable explanation, consistent with survey and
observation data, is that ``many schools are devoting a great deal of
class time to highly specific TAAS preparation.'' While this
preparation may improve TAAS scores, it may not help students develop
necessary reading and math skills. The authors suspect that ``schools
with relatively large percentages of minority and poor students may be
doing this more than other schools.''
Then it went on to say: Other features of the Texas test also may
contribute to the false sense that the racial gaps are closing.
Let me read now what Governor Bush has said about the Texas tests.
According to Governor Bush:
One of my proudest accomplishments is I worked with
Republicans and Democrats to close that achievement gap in
Texas.
Bush said that on ``Larry King Live.''
The Rand study shows this claim is false. The achievement gap is not
closing; it is actually increasing in Texas.
Bush says that:
Without comprehensive regular testing, without knowing if
children are really learning, accountability is a myth, and
standards are just slogans.
That is from a George Bush press conference.
The Rand study shows that the tests cited by Bush to support this
claim are biased, the gains are the product of teaching to the test,
and that claims of success far exceed the actual results.
Here is another Bush quote:
And our State provides some of the best education in the
nation, not measured by us, but measured by the Rand
Corporation, or other folks who take an objective look as to
how states are doing when it comes to educating children.
Bush said this in a live web chat on August 30.
Governor Bush was citing the Rand Corporation as an independent,
outside organization to look at what States are doing and what they are
doing in educating their children.
Here the Rand Corporation came out with their finding today. ``I
think the, quote, `Texas miracle' is a myth,'' Stephen Klein, a senior
Rand researcher who helped lead the study, told Reuters in a phone
interview. He said: the ``Texas miracle'' is a myth.
So much for what George Bush is saying about the ``Texas miracle'' in
education. What it shows is that Texas set up its own tests, called the
TAAS, the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills. They administered those,
put rewards out there for how well you do on these tests.
So what did they start doing in those schools? They taught to the
test, especially in schools that had a high proportion of minority
students. But when measured against the national test --that is not
biased, that is generally accepted around the Nation as the test to
measure achievement--the Texas test falls short. It showed that the gap
is not closing. It is actually widening, especially when it comes to
the gap between white students and students of color.
George Bush's claim that great progress in education has been made in
Texas is simply a myth. I am glad the Rand Corporation study came out
at this time. The American people deserve to know this, that the
exaggerations of George Bush on education are clearly just that--
terrible, gross exaggerations of what is actually happening in Texas,
when he cites the Rand Corporation and then the Rand Corporation comes
out and says, wait a minute, this is a myth. There are serious
questions about the validity of the gains in Texas, stark differences
between the stories told by Texas and by national testing.
It is obvious to me. George Bush keeps talking about taking tests and
taking tests, but when you measure against the nationally respected
NAEP test, Texas falls far short. So much for that exaggeration. Mr.
Bush believes so much in taking tests; he should take an exaggeration
test. He would flunk it. So much for education.
We were down at the White House earlier. We are sitting here now,
almost a month into the new fiscal year. We have not passed our
appropriations bills that fund education. We have no money for class
size reduction, no money for rebuilding and modernizing our schools, no
money for building new schools, no money for teacher training, no money
for job training. We are a month into the new fiscal year. The last
bill to be worked on is our education bill. The leadership on the
Republican side said this year that education was their No. 1 priority.
Yet it is the last bill to get through the Congress.
Finally, the Governor of Texas was quoted in today's Washington Post
as saying that the Vice President has blocked reform for the past 7\1/
2\ years. This is the exact quote from the newspaper:
``For 7\1/2\ years the vice president has been the second
biggest obstacle to reform in America,'' Bush added. ``Now he
wants to be the biggest, the obstacle in chief.''
That is kind of a cute line, I have to admit. He says that the Vice
President and President Clinton have blocked reform for the last 7\1/2\
years. He has his little chant: They have had their chance. They have
not led. We will. It is a catchy little phrase.
I have been watching George Bush. He has a lot of catchy phrases. It
makes one wonder: What country has George Bush been living in for the
last 8 years? Look at the record. During the Reagan and Bush years, we
had record deficits. Our debt quadrupled in this country during those
years, low job growth, low economic growth. Bill Clinton and Al Gore
took us from the depths of a Republican-made recession to the heights
of the longest peacetime economic expansion in this Nation's history,
balanced our budgets; it took us from record deficits of $290 billion a
year--that is what it was in 1992, a $290 billion deficit--and the
surplus this year will be $237 billion, the largest surplus in our
Nation's history.
We are now on track to eliminate the public debt by 2012. The Clinton
and Gore team, in contrast to what George Bush is saying, created 22.2
million new jobs, an average of 242,000 new jobs every month. That is
the highest number of jobs ever created under a single administration.
Unemployment is now at the lowest rate in 30 years. Under the Reagan
and Bush years, the number of people on welfare rose by 2.5 million, an
increase of 22 percent. But under Bill Clinton and Al Gore, we ended
welfare as we knew it. We have moved 7.5 million people off of welfare,
a decrease of 50 percent. Today we have the lowest number of welfare
recipients since 1968.
George Bush is saying: They are big spenders; they wanted to spend
all this money. The size of Government has grown.
Let's look at the record.
Bill Clinton and Al Gore have shrunk spending. Today, Federal
Government spending as a share of the economy, of our gross product,
has
[[Page S10908]]
dropped to its lowest level since 1966. It is right at about 18.5
percent, the lowest level since 1966.
Al Gore was the head of reinventing government, which has saved us
approximately $136 billion since he took over. How? There are now
377,000 fewer Federal Government employees than in 1993. We now have
the smallest Federal workforce since 1960. Yet under George Bush in
Texas, the size of the Texas government has grown. They have more
people working for government. Under Clinton and Gore, we have reduced
the size of the Government by 377,000 people to the lowest level since
1960. Those are the irrefutable facts.
Crime has been reduced. It has dropped for 7 years in a row, the
longest consecutive decline in crime ever recorded. The environment has
improved. During this time of economic growth, our environment has
improved. They have set the toughest smog and soot standards ever. We
have cleaned up over 500 toxic waste dumps. We have protected over 650
million acres of public lands, more than any administration since
Franklin Roosevelt was President.
We have made new investments in our schools. We have begun an
initiative to hire 100,000 more teachers to reduce class size. We have
opened up slots for 200,000 new Head Start students. We have connected
classrooms across America to the Internet. We have expanded
afterschool, summer school, and college prep programs.
Evidently, George Bush does not think much of these results. Maybe
these aren't the kinds of reforms in which he is interested. I guess
Governor Bush would rather take us back to the old days of deficits,
debts, and recession. Tax breaks for the rich; tough breaks for
everyone else.
In essence, what Governor Bush wants to do is return to the failed
policies of the past. Let's move beyond that. Those failed policies of
the past brought us deficits, brought us more debt, brought us
recession, but the economic programs of the Clinton-Gore administration
have brought us the greatest prosperity we have known since World War
II.
That is the record. Those are the facts. No amount of catchy little
phrases or platitudes uttered by Governor Bush can erase that record.
Lastly on education, the Rand study shows that the Texas miracle is
really a Texas myth.
Exhibit No. 1
What Do Test Scores in Texas Tell Us?
Do the scores on high-stakes, statewide tests accurately
reflect student achievement? To answer this critical
question, a team of RAND researchers examined the results on
the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS), the highest-
profile state testing program and one that has recorded
extraordinary gains in math and reading scores.
The team's report, an issue paper titled What Do Test
Scores in Texas Tell Us? raises ``serious questions'' about
the validity of those gains. It also cautions about the
danger of making decisions to sanction or reward students,
teachers and schools on the basis of test scores that may be
inflated or misleading. Finally, it suggests some steps that
states can take to increase the likelihood that their test
results merit public confidence and provide a sound basis for
educational policy.
To investigate whether the dramatic math and reading gains
on the TAAS represent actual academic progress, the
researchers compared these gains to score changes in Texas on
another test, the National Assessment of Educational Progress
(NAEP). The NAEP tests were used as a benchmark because they
reflect standards endorsed by a national panel of experts,
they are not subject to pressures to boost scores, and they
are generally considered the nation's single best indicator
of student achievement. Both the TAAS and the NAEP tests were
administered to fourth and eight graders during comparable
four-year period.
The RAND team--Stephen P. Klein, Laura Hamilton, Daniel
McCaffrey and Brian M. Stecher--generally found only small
increases, similar to those observed nationwide, in the Texas
NAEP scores. Meanwhile, the TAAS scores were soaring. Texas
students did improve significantly more on a fourth-grade
NAEP math test than their counterparts nationally. But again,
the size of this gain was smaller than their gains on TAAS
and was not present on the eighth-grade math test.
The ``stark differences'' between the stories told by NAEP
and TAAS are especially striking when it comes to the gap in
average scores between whites and students of color.
According to the NAEP results, that gap in Texas is not
only very large but increasing slightly. According to TAAS
scores, the gap is much smaller and decreasing greatly.
``We do not know the source of these differences,'' the
researchers state. But one reasonable explanation, consistent
with survey and observation data, is that ``many schools are
devoting a great deal of class time to highly specific TAAS
preparation.'' While this preparation may improve TAAS
scores, it may not help students develop necessary reading
and math skills. The authors suspect that ``schools with
relatively large percentages of minority and poor students
may be doing this more than other schools.'' Other features
of the TAAS also may contribute to the false sense that the
racial gaps are closing.
Problems with statewide tests are not confined to the TAAS
or Texas, the authors observe. To lessen the likelihood of
invalid scores on such tests, they recommend that states:
Reduce the pressure associated with high-stakes testing by
using one set of measures for decisions about individual
students and another set for teachers and schools;
Replace traditional paper-and-pencil multiple choice exams
with computer-based tests that are delivered over the
Internet and draw on banks of thousands of questions;
Peridocially conduct audit testing to validate score gains;
and
Examine the positive and negative effects of the testing
programs on curriculum and instruction.
In July, RAND released a detailed analysis by David
Grissmer and colleagues that compared the NAEP scores of 44
states, including Texas. That study and today's issue paper
are not directly comparable. They differ in scope, focus and
data. Grissmer et al. found that Texas ranked high in
achievement when comparing children from similar families.
Both found at least some gains in the NAEP scores in Texas.
Grissmer et al. suggested that the Texas accountability
regime, of which TAAS is a part, might be a ``plausible''
explanation for the state's NAEP gains, but added that more
research is needed before a linkage can be made. What Do Test
Scores in Texas Tell Us? represents an important contribution
to that research effort. It is also the latest in a
continuing series of RAND analyses involving high-stakes
testing issues.
STATEMENT OF RAND PRESIDENT AND CEO, JAMES A. THOMSON
The issue paper on Texas Education and Test Scores that
RAND issued today is already the subject of intense
controversy, as we expected. I want to underscore several
points:
This research was thoroughly reviewed by distinguished
external and internal experts. We stand behind the quality of
both this paper and of our July report on the meaning of
national test scores across the country, which also sparked
considerable controversy.
The timing of the release of both reports was based on the
same, constant RAND standard; we release our work as soon as
the research, review and revision processes are complete. We
don't produce findings for political reasons, we don't
distribute them for political reasons and we don't sit on
them for political reasons. This is a scrupulously
nonpartisan institution.
The July study--Improving Student Achievement: What State
NAEP Scores Tell Us--also touched on Texas schools and
received widespread press play. Both efforts draw on NAEP
scores. The new paper suggests a less positive picture of
Texas education than the earlier effort. But I do not believe
that these efforts are in sharp conflict. Together in fact
they provide a more comprehensive picture of key education
issues.
The July report differed in scope (it covered almost all
states, not just Texas), in methodology (it adjusted states'
NAEP scores for family characteristics, such as racial and
socioeconomic differences), and most of all in focus. It
sought to explain why student achievement scores vary so
widely across the states even after those demographic
adjustments are made. The team that researched the new Issue
Paper on the other hand focused on Texas and its statewide
testing program. Texas was studied because the state
exemplifies a national trend toward using statewide exams as
a basis for high-stakes educational decisions.
From the Texas standpoint, the good news is that the state
ranks high in adjusted student achievement. Our July study
correlates this with specific ways that resources are
allocated to high-leverage programs, such as pre-
kindergarten, one of the features of the Texas reform effort.
The bad news is that the statewide testing system in Texas
needs improvement. The Issue Paper team suggests ways this
can be done in Texas and other states.
Mr. HARKIN. I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Smith of Oregon). The clerk will call the
roll.
The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
____________________