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State Senator Bill Beagle
State
Legislature Responds to Testing Concerns
Testing in Ohio schools has been a major topic of discussion over the
last few months at the Ohio Senate and in our community. I
have heard from many parents, teachers, counselors and school
superintendents about the new state tests being administered this year
and the strain it has placed on our students and educators. The new
tests are longer and more involved than the assessments Ohio has used
in the past.
The new English language arts and math assessments were designed by the
Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers
(PARCC). The American Institute for Research (AIR) developed the
new assessments for science and social studies. The goal of the
new assessments is to ensure students are better prepared for their
next step after high school – whether it is college, technical
training, military service or a career.
This week the Ohio Senate unanimously passed House Bill 7, sponsored by
Representative Jim Buchy from Greenville, clarifying that for this
school year no student test scores will be used for student promotion
or retention purposes. It is expected that initially student scores
will not be as high as they have been on past state assessments. The
Third Grade Reading Guarantee is exempt from this legislation because
this year Ohio is continuing to use the Ohio Achievement Assessment for
third grade reading and not the new tests. In response to
parents that have opted their children out of the state tests, the
Senate amended the bill to protect schools from losing any state aid
for these students.
The General Assembly passed House Bill 487 last year which included a
“safe harbor” that allows school boards to enter into a memorandum of
understanding with teachers stating that scores on this year’s tests
will not be utilized as an indicator of student growth on teacher
evaluations for next year. The Senate amended that same bill to
require the State Superintendent to review Ohio’s state
assessments and submit a report to the legislature recommending ways to
reasonably reduce the number and duration of state assessments.
Some of those recommendations have been included in Senate Bill 3,
currently being considered in the Senate. Under this bill, all
schools would no longer be required to administer the 1st and 2nd grade
math diagnostic test, or the writing diagnostic required for 1st, 2nd,
and 3rd grade. The legislation would also eliminate the fall 3rd grade
reading test which would save nearly 5 hours of testing time,
significantly reducing the state testing burden for our youngest pupils.
Though some state testing is the result of the Federal mandates of No
Child Left Behind, Senate Bill 3 would limit the amount of cumulative
time spent on state assessments to 2 percent of the school year and the
amount of time on practice tests to 1 percent of the school year.
However, a school board will have the option to pass a resolution at a
local meeting indicating that they intend to exceed the 1 percent
limitation if they believe the time is insufficient
This week the Ohio Senate also created an Advisory Committee on
Testing. Appointed teachers, superintendents, curriculum
specialists, elected State School Board members and senators will
review the testing requirements and concerns raised by parents and
educators to determine what changes may be needed in the best interest
of students. Initial recommendations are expected this spring.
Nothing is more important than our children’s education. Passions run
high on all sides of the issue of standardized testing as we strive for
a system that is both fair and effective. Our goal is to improve
student competitiveness and ensure high quality instruction while
maintaining local control and avoiding unnecessary pressure on our
children and their teachers. Ohio’s prior system allowed students to be
deemed “proficient” by answering only one out of three questions
correct. Now we will examine the current system to see if it’s
meeting the needs of our kids. Parent input on this topic has been
invaluable. This is how the system is supposed to work:
legislators respond to citizen input. Not everyone will agree,
but everyone can be heard.
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