U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown was in northeast Ohio Monday to hear students and parents vent frustrations about what they call too much standardized testing.
Ohio students spent an average of 20 hours on standardized tests this year. – PARCC tests, OAA tests, OGT tests. And it’s caused a backlash from parents and teachers. Shaker Hts English teacher Jody Podl says the tests are used to evaluate teachers and schools but they don’t take all aspect of child’s education into account
“And even though they don’t measure all that matters, they have become all that matters.”
A Shaker Hts. parent of a 6th and 8th grader, Jennie Kaffen, says this was the worst year ever for tests. She thought they were sending the wrong message to her kids this spring about a change in priorities.
“The priorities seems to be more about how we do on these tests whereas all year it’s been about how I improve my writing skill and my ability to read and comprehend and talk about books.”
In the U.S. Senate, Sherrod Brown has sponsored an amendment to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act otherwise known as No Child Left Behind that would provide grants to states so they can evaluate all their tests and eliminate any duplication. It’s known as the SMART act. Shaker Hts principle Gregory Hutchings says his district just finished its own study.
“We’ve identified a number of tests we administered district wide that provides us with the same data and the same information so there really is no rhyme or reason for us to actually administer both.”
The House and Senate are expected to vote on the Elementary and Secondary Education Act this summer.