“I think it’s a pretty safe assumption that we will have some version of a test that is aligned to Ohio’s (current) learning standards, that will use technology, but it will be a considerably redone format over this year’s,” said state Sen. Peggy Lehner, chair of the Senate Education Committee. “We will go away from the two (test windows) and we’ll go to one shorter test, given in early May. Exactly who that vendor will be remains to be seen.”
But while Lehner said current vendors PARCC and AIR likely would submit revised tests to try to meet Ohio’s requirements, the state House on Wednesday passed a bill (HB74), by a 92-1 vote, that would ban PARCC from even applying to supply a test to Ohio.
Another bill introduced Wednesday (SB163) would completely ban the use of the Common Core-tied learning standards that Ohio’s current math and English tests are based on.
“The fact that (HB74) would prohibit PARCC from being considered is a mistake,” Lehner said. “It’s possible PARCC will make the (desired) changes and the other group won’t. And where does that leave us? Forced to go with a choice that’s not the type of test we requested? We don’t want to tie our hands.”
The lack of consensus as summer approaches worries many school officials, who just spent four years preparing for new learning standards, textbooks and tests that officially took effect this year, only to see significant backlash.
“The important thing is that the decisions be made in enough time so that school districts have time to prepare,” said Damon Asbury, director of legislative services for the Ohio School Boards Association. “They need to get their testing calendars out and be able to inform teachers, parents, students and the broader community about the plan. That was one of the issues with PARCC.”
The biggest complaint against Ohio’s new system of tests this year was the increased amount of time spent testing. Every piece of testing legislation calls for reduced testing time.
“I talk to a lot of teachers and kids, and they can’t handle this amount of testing,” said state Rep. Niraj Antani, R-Miamisburg, who favors complete replacement of the PARCC tests. “It takes away from the amount of teaching time and doesn’t enhance student progress. We need assessments, but there is such a thing as too many.”
But Lehner and other education officials say selecting a test is an important, time-consuming process.
“Developing a new test, unless you just pull something off the shelf, is difficult,” Asbury said. “Most off-the-shelf tests, despite what the vendors may tell you, don’t really relate to the new standards. That would set back progress.”
Graler said switching tests is “a major upheaval” that requires schools to do research and provide professional development for staff. But he thinks most people will be willing to put up with more change if it means less testing, regardless of which vendor is used.
Proficiency question
Part of the reason for implementing Common Core standards and multi-state tests was so states could benchmark themselves against one another on a common platform.
A report released Thursday by the education reform group Achieve said that when states use their own tests, they often set their “proficiency” standards artificially low. In the tests Ohio used before this year, students only needed to get 32 to 57 percent of questions right to be deemed proficient.
Achieve said Ohio’s reported proficiency rates in reading and math were more than 30 percentage points higher than what the National Assessment of Educational Progress showed, “leading parents and educators to believe that far more students are succeeding than is actually the case.”
As Ohio moves forward, Asbury touted the changes recommended by Lehner’s advisory committee on testing — one test window instead of two, more timely results, a better technology platform for online testing, clearer accommodations for special education students, and more.
“I think the strength of Sen. Lehner’s (work) is that it’s built on the expertise of practitioners — superintendents, curriculum directors, testing specialists,” Asbury said. “And their recommendations were pretty precise.”
Lehner said she expects the state Senate to work those recommendations into an amended version of House Bill 74, or into the state budget bill, and get it finished by early June.
“We need to return to a focus on learning in the classroom versus testing in the classroom,” Lehner said.
Randy Oppenheimer, spokesman for Lakota Local Schools, said the first round of new PARCC testing in February and March “had a lot of bumps to work out.”
“There were a lot of administration and coordination issues to be worked out with PARCC,” Oppenheimer said. “There were also some issues where PARCC had to rewrite some computer code, to make sure the tests worked on different computers.”
But he said the second round of testing in April and May was “much better.”
“What we’d like to see next year is just to have kids spend less time taking all these standardized tests,” Oppenheimer said.
Lani Wildow, director of curriculum and instruction at Fairfield City Schools, said the switch to online testing could have posed some challenges, but the district’s teachers, administrators and technology staff encountered “minimal glitches.”
Wildow said she hopes by next school year, the Ohio Department of Education and state legislature can work to make the amount of testing “reasonable.”
“Ensuring that the tests we administer have a clear purpose is important, and we are very much in favor of a state accountability system that puts kids needs first,” Wildow said.
The Hamilton City School District spent significant time preparing for the online delivery of PARCC assessments this year, said Keith Millard, assistant superintendent of instruction. But with that still came issues, he said.
“Specifically, online registration of students, managing accommodation and accessibility features, and test submission features all left a great deal to be desired,” Millard said.
He said there were also many technology glitches that were outside the district’s control.
“The district is certainly hoping to see a streamlined assessment system that contains shorter testing windows, corrects the numerous logistical issues prior to, during, and after test administration, and allows for a single testing platform to be utilized for the delivery of all assessments,” Millard said.
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