ISTA tells legislative panel overemphasis on testing has lost balance
10/01/2015

 

The Interim Education Committee met Tuesday to discuss statewide testing requirements, as well as federal and state data collection and reporting. Several national assessment experts were on hand to provide analysis of Indiana’s system. Some of the critics have argued that Indiana moved too hastily adopting new state standards.  Scrapping Common Core required a new assessment that would align with the standards, and allow the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) to receive an Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) flexibility waiver from the U.S. Department of Education. As a result, several glitches have occurred.

 

ISTEP has been adapted to meet Indiana’s standards that policymakers pushed as more rigorous than Common Core.

 

Michael Cohen, CEO of Achieve, a nonprofit that has played a role in assisting states with assessments and Common Core, said that ISTEP does not adequately measure student proficiency when compared to Indiana’s performance on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Cohen was more optimistic about the new version of ISTEP.

 

ISTA took the opportunity to inform legislators just how much is at stake when it comes to a single snapshot standardized test score. A - F accountability grades for schools and districts, along with teacher evaluations (linked to compensation) are frequently discussed in schools and policy debates. However, there are a number of other overlooked consequences:

 

• Performance qualified school district grants tied to performance – schools must be in highest category to receive benefits
• Charter loan eligibility – charters must not remain in the lowest category for more than three years
• $500 charter grants per student if eligible based on performance
• Implications for low population schools for data privacy concerns
• Charter conversion eligibility
• Voucher pathways for eligible schools if the community public school is an F
• School closure implications and takeover
• Transformation Zone eligibility
• Teachers’ ability to supervise student teaching
• Excellence in performance awards of $2 million for Priority and Focus schools
• Performance Awards for teachers rated highly effective or effective

Teachers are familiar with testing. They create tests. But the overemphasis on testing has lost its balance over the years. Students come into the classroom with varied factors that affect learning  (poverty level, parental educational attainment, nutrition and health,  demographic factors, etc.). No bubble test can measure a kid’s curiosity. So much happens at school that shapes our children’s tomorrows, and therefore we must instill a love of learning, foster creativity, and teach critical thinking skills. A single test does not capture the full educational experience.

 

ISTA appreciates the continuing conversation about testing, but this is not an issue that can be solved in a day’s work. We look forward to continued discussions about how to reduce testing time and focus more on instruction and student learning, as well as alternative formative assessments that help to inform educators about student progress.

 

This will certainly continue to be a hot topic next legislative session so stay tuned.