CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Feb. 10 is the deadline for comments on a proposed policy change that would replace Smarter Balanced testing for high schools students in West Virginia with end-of-course exams in certain subjects like English language arts and math.
As of now, those end-of-course exams have not been developed.
Overall, “We like going away from the Smarter Balanced tests,” said Dale Lee, president of the West Virginia Education Association.
“The tests should be designed for something that would chart a student’s growth. It shouldn’t be used to determine whether the school is doing well, or the grade that the school should get or anything like that.”
Currently, the results of the Smarter Balanced tests are factors in grades through the West Virginia A-F School Accountability System. The first school report cards were issued in November.
After reviewing the proposed policy change, Lee said on Friday’s MetroNews “Talkline” he had many questions.
“It doesn’t say what percentage of the test will count toward the student’s grade — if it’s a high stakes test, like, if you don’t pass the test, you don’t pass the class. It doesn’t give us the details on who’s going to come up with the test. It doesn’t give details on who’s going to grade the test, if that’s going to brought back in a timely manner,” Lee said.
“There’s just too many things that really have to be worked out before we can come back and say, ‘This is a good idea. This is a bad idea.'”
The Smarter Balanced tests, which are aligned with Common Core standards, have been criticized mostly because, while the results do affect school scores, they are not factors in individual student grades or graduations.
In the previous school year, data those with the state Department of Education received showed many students rushed through the standardized tests which are given in grades 3-11 annually.
Other criticisms have included the amount of school time required to take the tests and the information available in results reported back to school administrators and teachers.
“The teachers are the experts on public education. Listen to their voices,” Lee said. “Ask the teachers what direction that they want to go, ask the teachers how can we make this a better system, ask the teachers what type of testing should we do, how much testing should we do?”
As proposed, end-of-course exams could start being implemented in high schools as soon as the 2017-2018 school year and fully replace the Smarter Balanced tests by the following school year.
The state Department of Education is also seeking proposals on possible alternative assessments for students in lower grades.
Whatever happens, Lee said future stability is what West Virginia’s schools need the most. “We can’t keep jumping around on standards, jumping around on curriculum,” he said.
The comment period is scheduled to close at 4 p.m. on Feb. 10, 2017.