Dive Brief:
- The Maryland Educators Association has unveiled “Less Testing, More Learning,” an advertising campaign against overtesting.
- The campaign will last a month and cost a half-million dollars, beginning with two weeks of television, radio, and online ads.
- It will feature stories of teachers and their experiences with how testing interfered with their students’ learning.
Dive Insight:
Concerns spread this year, with widespread opt-outs in a number of states and some legislators considering bills to reduce testing. Though federally mandated testing isn't likely to go anywhere anytime soon, state and district-mandated testing can contribute significantly to test loads. Maryland was the site of some of those attempts; in the end, the legislature agreed to study the amount of testing in the state, but did not reduce testing levels.
Stephen Hershkowitz, a Maryland union spokesman, said the union hoped the campaign would bring overtesting concerns to the forefront and make testing reductions a top priority during next year's state legislative session. Gov. Larry Hogan, often a union opponent, has also expressed concerns about overtesting.
"Anything that isn't tested gets put on the back burner — it's just test, test, test, and they're taking away things that kids need," a teacher says in one of the advertisements, according to the Washington Post.