Standardized tests are part of bigger picture

  • Saturday, December 3, 2016 2:23pm
  • Opinion

Alaska’s Department of Education and Early Development on Thursday announced the selection of a new vendor to provide annual standardized testing services to school districts across the state.

Data Recognition Corp., based in Minnesota, will provide tests for students starting 2017. The move comes after the state dropped its former vendor, the Achievement and Assessment Institute in Kansas, due to technical glitches in administering the tests, and concern from educators over the validity and usefulness of the test results. The test itself, educators noted, was good; the main complaint is that the results were not compiled and presented in a way that would be useful in plotting student development.

And if test results aren’t useful, there’s not much point in requiring the test.

Where the Achievement and Assessment Institute was a newcomer to statewide standardized testing, Data Recognition Corp. has been in business since 1978; we hope the experience results in a more useful assessment of our students’ academic progress.

That said, we’d like to point out that, standardized testing or not, our students are being measured on an ongoing basis. The reason for the expensive testing – Alaska’s annual budget for testing is $4.5 million, $3.5 million of which is being paid by the federal government – is that not every district is using the same tools to evaluate students, and politicians saw such tests as a way to hold local school districts accountable for student performance.

The theory certainly looks good on paper, and No Child Left Behind did have some positive results, requiring school districts to track student progress across a wide spectrum of categories. But it also ushered in the era of unfunded mandates on school districts, and had the effect of taking many decisions out of the hands of local school boards and administrations. With penalties for not making adequate yearly progress, it was in each school district’s best interest to get as many students as possible to the “proficient” level – in effect, encouraging everyone to be average.

No Student Left Behind has been replaced by the Every Student Succeeds Act, which promises to return some decisions on how best to educate students to state and local control. The statewide assessment is still required, though states are now given the responsibility of measuring student and school performance, rather than being forced into the federal government’s one size fits all framework.

We hope that the new tests provide educators with much more useful information on student performance that can better direct state and local education policy.

But we also know that an annual standardized test should represent one small part of the academic growth of students and the performance of teachers, schools and school districts. We’re sure Kenai Peninsula Borough students will do well on any test, but we know there are many more ways to track student progress from kindergarten to graduation, and one test only tells part of the story.

More in Opinion

A cherished "jolly Santa head" ornament from the Baisden Christmas tree. (Photo provided)
Opinion: Reflections of holidays past

Our family tradition has been to put up our Christmas tree post-Thanksgiving giving a clear separation of the holidays

Screenshot. (https://dps.alaska.gov/ast/vpso/home)
Opinion: Strengthening Alaska’s public safety: Recent growth in the VPSO program

The number of VPSOs working in our remote communities has grown to 79

Soldotna City Council member Linda Farnsworth-Hutchings participates in the Peninsula Clarion and KDLL candidate forum series, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024, at the Soldotna Public Library in Soldotna, Alaska. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion)
Opinion: I’m a Soldotna Republican and will vote No on 2

Open primaries and ranked choice voting offer a way to put power back into the hands of voters, where it belongs

Nick Begich III campaign materials sit on tables ahead of a May 16, 2022, GOP debate held in Juneau. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire file photo)
Opinion: North to a Brighter Future

The policies championed by the Biden/Harris Administration and their allies in Congress have made it harder for us to live the Alaskan way of life

Shrubs grow outside of the Kenai Courthouse on Monday, July 3, 2023, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Opinion: Vote yes to retain Judge Zeman and all judges on your ballot

Alaska’s state judges should never be chosen or rejected based on partisan political agendas

A vintage Underwood typewriter sits on a table on Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2022, at the Homer News in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)
Point of View: District 6 needs to return to representation before Vance

Since Vance’s election she has closely aligned herself with the far-right representatives from Mat-Su and Gov. Mike Dunleavy

The Anchor River flows in the Anchor Point State Recreation Area on Saturday, Aug. 5, 2023, in Anchor Point, Alaska. (Delcenia Cosman/Homer News)
Opinion: Help ensure Alaskans have rights to use, enjoy and care for rivers

It is discouraging to see the Department of Natural Resources seemingly on track to erode the public’s ability to protect vital water interests.

A sign directing voters to the Alaska Division of Elections polling place is seen in Kenai, Alaska, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion)
Vote no on Ballot Measure 2

A yes vote would return Alaska to party controlled closed primaries and general elections in which the candidate need not win an outright majority to be elected.

Derrick Green (Courtesy photo)
Opinion: Ballot Measure 1 will help businesses and communities thrive

It would not be good for the health and safety of my staff, my customers, or my family if workers are too worried about missing pay to stay home when they are sick.

A sign warns of the presence of endangered Cook Inlet beluga whales at the Kenai Beach in Kenai, Alaska, on Monday, July 10, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Opinion: Could an unnecessary gold mine drive Cook Inlet belugas extinct?

An industrial port for the proposed Johnson Tract gold mine could decimate the bay