by Diana Lambert, Sacramento Bee | http://bit.ly/yX0aN0
Published Sunday, Feb. 05, 2012 :: Want to make a public school teacher cringe? Say the words high-stakes testing.
Tests, test and more tests.
Teachers unions rail against them. Parents complain about the time their kids spend taking them. Academics disagree over their value.
Gov. Jerry Brown joined the clamor, saying he wanted students to take fewer tests. He gave no real specifics during his State of the State address, but said he will work with the state Board of Education to make it happen.
"We think the governor is on the right track," said Dean Vogel, president of the California Teachers Association. "We think the emphasis on high-stakes testing has really got us on the wrong track. You see less emphasis on the arts, drama, music – those kinds of electives."
Brown's message may resonate with educators and some parents, but it seems in conflict with efforts to measure – through new tests – how the state's new education blueprint will be followed. That blueprint, called Common Core Standards, will govern teaching in public schools beginning in 2014.
The Smarter Balance Assessment Consortium – a group developing new tests – wants to add more exams annually, said Jamal Abedi, a UC Davis professor on its advisory board.
The consortium, which includes California and 29 other states, plans to offer formative and interim assessments, as well as year-end tests, he said.
Using only annual tests makes it difficult to get a clear picture of student achievement, Abedi said.
The additional tests will be optional, the California Department of Education said.
The consortium has been directed to create federal accountability tests in math and language arts for third through eighth grades and one test to be given in the 10th, 11th or 12th grade, said Deb Sigmund, a department associate superintendent.
"Smarter Balance is meant to replace what we currently have," she said.
The state can't cut federally mandated testing, so any reductions are likely to come from the list of state-mandated tests that include the California High School Proficiency Exam, physical fitness assessments and second-, ninth- and 11th-grade tests, among others.
California has "lots of assessments that aren't federally required that are required by state statutes," Sigmund said.
"Federal testing is the tip of the iceberg," said Monty Neill of Fair Test, an advocacy organization. "It's clear that teachers spend weeks of classroom time on test preparation."
So, how many tests do students really take?
Each spring California students are required to take standardized tests in math and English-language arts in second through 11th grades, as well as writing tests in fourth and seventh grades. A history-social science test is added in eighth through 11th grades and a science test in the fifth, eighth and 11th grades.
California students can't graduate without taking a state high school exit exam, and a physical fitness test is required in fifth, seventh and ninth grades.
But students are filling in the bubbles on their test sheets for even more hours. Pupils must take district, school and teacher assessments, as well as tests for college admission.
Elk Grove Unified and Sacramento City Unified are among the local districts that require teachers to give benchmark assessments throughout the year.
Elk Grove students take tests at mid-term, while Sacramento City students in first through eighth grades are tested in English and math three times a year. A fourth test is optional.
Sacramento City Unified Chief Accountability Officer Mary Shelton said the district tests are aligned to the state standards and give schools and their teachers feedback on how they are doing.
She believes in reducing mandated state testing, however. "The question is what do you put in place to see if our kids are learning," she said. "There should be some sort of assessment in place, so teachers know how they are doing and parents know how their schools are doing."
Sacramento City Unified doesn't get many parent complaints about the testing, Shelton said. "Occasionally, we get some concerns about the amount of time students spend taking tests, or by teachers on the amount of classroom time spent on tests."
There may be more complaints soon. California will try the new assessments on some students over the next two years, while still administering the current batch of required standardized tests, state education officials say.
Doubling up on testing is likely to upset some parents, already averse to the amount of time spent on testing.
Parents and educators opposed to standardized testing have started a nationwide movement using the Internet to educate parents about their right to opt their children out of testing. Websites offer computer-generated letters parents can fill out to keep their children from being tested.
"There is a surge (in the opt-out movement) right now," Neill said. "I think people are becoming really fed up."
While California allows parents to opt out of the tests, Neill said, few parents are made aware of the right.
School officials rely on the Average Yearly Progress scores, earned by student testing, to determine how schools are progressing. Parents look to the scores as well. If enough students opt out of testing, the school can lose its AYP score. If this continues for several years, a school could be deemed underperforming and could be closed or turned into a charter school.
Schools can lose AYP if 95 percent of the students at the school aren't assessed, Sigmund said.
"We have very few schools where this happens," she said, noting that fewer than 1 percent of California parents opt their children out of testing.
"My experience at the district level is that parents generally like to have the assessment piece as a piece of information about their child's performance, and they were generally glad to get that piece of information," she said.
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