Dive Brief:
- Although 39 states are looking at scaling back on unnecessary testing, each has taken a localized approach to rectifying their heavy testing burdens.
- An inventory taken this year of every test Illinois students are required to take found 17 in total.
- Some states have capped testing time or eliminated a handful of mandated tests all together, like Colorado, where a bill passed this spring ended the state’s social studies testing requirement.
Dive Insight:
The outcry against overtesting is loud, and the push to reduce unnecessary testing has gained traction in quarters once opposed to it. But what states’ approaches reveal is that reducing testing can be just as fraught and complicated as the testing controversy itself.
"There will be some teachers who will be very upset and say, 'That's my favorite assessment,'" said Donald D. Owen, the superintendent of Urbana School District 116 in Illinois. And state education officials have had to grapple with how to match their policy objectives with the reality of testing in schools. One Nevada state official said he learned almost every month of a new test being used.
What states have found is that many tests used in schools are not federally or state-mandated but implemented by teachers and school leaders to gather information about student progress. In Illinois, 16 of the 17 tests were intended for local use. Officials in some states are discussing with districts whether there are other ways for teachers to get the same information.
