CONTINUING COVERAGE
As Ohio lawmakers debate changing the way the state tests K-12 students, our team in Columbus and locally will stay on the story. Get the latest developments on Twitter at @Ohio_Politics
Ohio’s debate on school testing reform got even more crowded Wednesday as state Sen. Peggy Lehner announced a special committee to review the issue, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown touted new federal legislation on the topic, and a bill aimed at protecting students from certain test consequences passed the Ohio Senate.
There’s agreement that Ohio’s school testing environment could be improved, but there’s little consensus on how to do it.
The Ohio Department of Education issued a report Jan. 15 calling for the elimination of some school-driven testing to help decrease the number of testing hours. In his State of the State speech, Gov. John Kasich generally backed ODE’s approach.
Many local superintendents criticized that idea, saying the school-driven diagnostic testing actually helps teachers move students forward throughout the year.
But last month, a bill was introduced in the Ohio House (HB74) that would cut state-driven testing hours and would require Ohio to seek totally new state tests, with multistate groups such as PARCC and AIR — Ohio’s current test providers — ineligible to be considered.
If approved, that likely would jettison Ohio schools out of the Common Core movement.
Lehner, R-Kettering, said her 25-member special committee will be loaded with education experts who will look at problems with technology, testing and content covered in exams. Scrapping the PARCC tests or requiring major changes will be considered, she said.
“We are going to leave no stone unturned on this particular issue,” she said.
How we got here
After years of gradual increases in state and federally mandated student testing, the issue hit critical mass this school year as Ohio implemented new Common Core-tied state exams. Those tests were touted as being tougher, requiring students to write essays, show work and apply concepts, with less pure memorization.
There was strong political opposition to the tests, but many educators focused on the fact that the new exams come in two parts rather than one, roughly doubling students’ testing time.
Those state tests, coupled with other assessments that districts chose to give, mean students face exams almost daily.
“This is something we hear over and over and over again,” Lehner said. “We are hearing from teachers, we are hearing from superintendents telling us that testing is interfering with learning. I think that we have to take this very seriously, and we are.”
The committee, which will start meeting next week, includes teachers, superintendents, testing specialists, state education officials and others. The goal is to make recommendations by late June, Lehner said.
Additionally, the Senate voted unanimously Wednesday for a House bill aimed at protecting students from consequences tied to this year’s tests. The exception is third-grade reading, where a test still will determine whether students advance to fourth grade. That bill must return to the House for consideration of Senate changes.
The federal side
Many of the state tests that Ohio students have taken for years are required by federal No Child Left Behind legislation. That bill — technically the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) — currently is being rewritten in Congress.
Sen. Brown, D-Ohio, on Wednesday touted a bill he co-sponsored, called the Support Making Assessments Reliable and Timely Act (SMART), saying he hoped it would be included in the larger education bill.
Brown said the SMART Act would provide money to help states and local education agencies align testing materials to college- and career-ready standards, speed up test results so educators could respond with appropriate instruction, and audit existing exams to eliminate unnecessary tests and improve the effectiveness of the remaining ones.
“More of our students’ time in school should be spent on learning, not on unnecessary testing,” Brown said. “While annual testing is critical in measuring student achievement, we should eliminate duplicative tests and realign focus to college- and career-ready standards.”
Testing attitudes
Brown was joined Wednesday by Columbus teacher Courtney Johnson, who argued that the “testing, labeling and punishing” system currently in place has corrupted educational quality. She said she understood worries about making yet another change, but she said reducing testing hours is important enough to do so.
“Promoting a love of teaching and learning is more important than a test score,” Johnson said.
Aaron Churchill, Ohio research director for the Fordham Institute, said the focus should be more on the quality of the tests than on how much time they take. On some of Ohio’s previous tests, students could get as few as 32 percent of questions correct and still be deemed proficient.
“If you can guess ‘C’ on every question and almost get to where the state said you were proficient, in my view it’s unacceptable to have a test like that,” Churchill said, calling the new tests better because they require interpretation, writing and problem solving.
“This should remove some of the anxiety over teaching to the test, because you can’t just drill the kids. They have to learn the material and have a deeper knowledge of the subject.”
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