A New Era of Testing: The Possible Changes Coming to State Testing
By: Olivia Cannon
You're sitting in a classroom surrounded by your fellow elementary students, but instead of the usual table groups and chatter, the desks are arranged in neat rows, and the silence is thick with worry. You're staring at a math question that looks like it was written in another language, and your heart feels like it's about to beat out of your chest. You can see your other classmates finishing the test but you are nowhere near done. Your stomach is now doing flip-flops, and the clock is ticking louder and louder. You could swear you've never seen this kind of math before. And the clock is still ticking. And you're running out of time. And you bubble in C and pray you guessed right before moving to the next question.
This is how I remember my experience with state testing. If you told me then there was a chance that they would get rid of it, I would have been ecstatic. But what is the chance that could actually happen? Just like younger me dreamed about, the chance for state testing to disappear is closer than ever.
At the beginning of August, Oklahoma's former Superintendent of Education, Ryan Walters, announced a plan to change state standardized tests. So, let's dive into what state testing is and how exactly it could change.
Okay lets get started. But first some backstory because I think it's important we all understand what state testing is and why we do it, because little me definitely did not when she was taking them. In Oklahoma, students in grades 3rd through 8th take part in the Oklahoma State Testing Program (OSTP). The standardized tests are taken every year around April in Language Arts and Math. In 5th, 8th, and 11th grade, there is an additional science section, and only for 11th graders, there is also a U.S. history section. According to the Oklahoma Education website, the results are used to measure academic achievement, performance level, academic growth, and how well the school is doing. Now that we know how the state education department describes the OSTP, how does Jenks?
“We think of it in terms of ‘a moment in time,’” said Jenks vice superintendent Suzanne Lair while explaining how Jenks views state testing, “It represents 1 day in time, … It's a really smaller picture of what we would think represents our students.”
Lair explained how Jenks views state testing as a small picture and not something that fully shows what the students know, and later goes on to explain the way that Jenks determines how well their students are doing in the classrooms.
“Our students are, throughout the school year, being assessed on reading to see how they're doing, and what areas they need to continue working on” said Lair explaining a program called Amira “We now know how to adjust instructions so that our students are getting what they need to be able to grow throughout the year.”
Jenks uses Amira to see how well their younger students are doing in English and a similar program called IXL to determine their math abilities throughout the year. The way Jenks tests their students throughout the whole of the school year, instead of just one day, actually lines up with the possible changes to the state standardized testing plan.
Walters’ plan is not to entirely get rid of state testing; instead, he has submitted a request for a waiver from the federal peer review requirements under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESSA). This waiver would apply to the statewide academic assessments that the ESSA requires, specifically the 3rd-8th and llth grade standardized tests in mathematics, English Language Arts, and science. The plan is not to abolish state tests but instead, much like Jenks already does, switch from doing big tests at the end of the year to having smaller tests or check-ins throughout the year to make sure the students are on target. However, the Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) would not be providing the tests, like they do the OSTP, instead each district would choose its own testing programs (such as Amira and IXL) which will have to be approved by the OSDE.
That shift towards smaller, more frequent tests also lines up with why Jenks leaders say they are not the biggest fans of traditional state exams.
"If we're waiting until April to test a student, we don't even get the results back until the next school year it's too late to do anything with them,” said Lair
That delay, she explained, is one of the main reasons Jenks favors ongoing assessments. A curriculum coordinator for Jenks East Intermediate, Andrea Bubert, explains what kind of data her school collects and how it is used:
"We use that information to look at where students are based on the state standards,” Said Bubert, who then goes on to explain the types of things they collect data on. “For math, it covers things like number sense, geometry, and in English language arts, comprehension, vocabulary, fluency, and phonics. Teachers are constantly looking at that data to make decisions on what to teach next and what they need to reteach.”
This is why Jenks puts more emphasis on tools that continuously give data rather than one test score. These small cheek-ins help teachers see progress as it’s happening.
"The more that we can give students the opportunity to show us those areas where they either understand or don't understand, the more we can gauge instruction,” said Lair.
This means teachers can spot problems early, plan interventions, and track the same groups' growth throughout the year and even through their entire education at Jenks, which is something that a single day's test can not do.
It's important to note that in order for the changes to state testing to happen, there are a lot of legal steps that need to be taken in order for this to take place. The first step is already done and that is to write and submit a waiver for approval to the U.S. Department of Education, then they must wait for one month to give Oklahoma residents, preferably parents and educators, to make comments the time frame for that was August 8 - September 8, and then the waiver, along with the public comments is ready to be reviewed by the Federal Education Department if it is approved then the changes to testing may begin to be put in place.
Looking back at the anxious kid frantically bubbling in answers, it's encouraging to see the push towards changing the way we measure students' achievement. Between the state's proposal and Jenks’s ongoing approach to formative assessment, one thing is clear: measuring students' learning based on one stressful day is a thing of the past. I can't wait to see what comes next for our students. If you want to stay informed about what will happen with this bill, News 4 and Oklahoma Voice were both very helpful in my research for this article, and would be a great place to go to make sure you are keeping up to date.
UPDATE:
Wednesday September 24 Ryan Walters officially resigned from his position as superintendent of education. Because Walters resigned with more than a year left in our term Governor Stitt will be appointing a person to take over his position, at this time we are unsure of what the new superintendent will want to do with Walters proposal.
