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3-24-14 Op Ed - Delay High-StakesTesting
Star Ledger - Delaying new standardized testing would benefit schools, students: Opinion

Star edger - Delaying new standardized testing would benefit schools, students: Opinion

By Star-Ledger Guest Columnist The Star-Ledger
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on March 24, 2014 at 7:00 AM, updated March 24, 2014 at 8:21 AM

By Patrick J. Fletcher and Daniel Fishbein

Increases in academic rigor, use of technology in assessing student performance and professional accountability for teachers and administrators all represent a positive direction — but without expanding capacity in our state’s school districts, it may well be impossible to successfully implement these initiatives.

And since New Jersey’s schools, particularly those in Bergen County, are already among the finest anywhere, one unavoidable question arises. What’s the rush?

Beginning with the coming school year, the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers standardized test series replaces current state testing. With 19 other states, New Jersey agreed to adopt PARCC to better assess students on the Common Core Standards. The test is designed to be administered online multiple times throughout the year, and data gathered also will be used to evaluate teachers and
principals.

Unfortunately, with barely half a year until school districts begin implementing PARCC testing, there remain multiple unanswered questions that need to be addressed before full implementation in spring 2015. For example, how will students, teachers, administrators and parents...

Deal with the increased testing time? Each test administered will require approximately nine hours during a four-day period. This will certainly reduce instructional time for students and impact school operations — a decidedly undesirable development considering the overall challenges of preparing our students to meet the demands of the 21st century. In addition, the increase in testing time will mean significantly fewer opportunities for teachers and administrators to meet with staff and parents.

Provide sufficient technology for students to participate? The use of technology for testing means it wont be available for instruction. And since districts have varying technology capacities, in terms of bandwidth, devices and expert personnel, this will result in unequal district-by-district and even school-by-school test experiences.

Explain the anticipated drop in scores? Changing assessments historically mean districts experience a performance dip. So who will determine if this dip is caused by student fatigue due to increased testing time, an uneven use of technology or the supposed increase in standards rigor?

Provide for our special education students, who receive extended time on any test as part of their educational accommodation? They’ll now have to endure even longer testing sessions.

&bulll; Address the needs of younger students? Many children in the lower grades already are under stress related to high-stakes testing, and this new system will increase anxiety because of how results are will be used.

Provide the funds needed to implement the program? Affording the technology necessary to conduct statewide, online testing is financially straining districts whose budgets are statutorily capped for growth. Few districts are technologically prepared for PARCC in terms of having enough computers, enough bandwidth and enough people to make sure everything works ... and the state Department of Education faces the same issues.

Further, PARCC testing presents a challenging requirement for staffing. Each school needs to designate a PARCC Testing Coordinator to serve as the direct liaison with PARCC and the state Department of Education, plus a PARCC District Technology Coordinator responsible for all test-related technology components. State mandates already stretch administrators and teachers painfully thin — now, these additional, time-consuming responsibilities will impact their ability to provide direct services to students.

Of note, some states within the PARCC consortium have either pulled out or postponed the effective date beyond the 2014-15 school year. In difficult financial times, when important positions and programs have been cut to stay within statutory budget caps, it’s difficult to effectively implement these initiatives with so many unanswered questions remaining.

In Bergen County, we’re fortunate to have supportive parents, exceptional teachers, outstanding students and committed administrators. We have dedicated educational professionals who are committed to the implementation of this huge educational reform mandate.

We’ll continue meeting challenges at the local level while seeking inventive solutions to increased demands. However, we believe that the administration of the exam should be delayed for at least one year.

Patrick J. Fletcher is superintendent of River Dell Regional School District and president of the Bergen County Association of School Administrators. Daniel Fishbein is superintendent of Ridgewood Public Schools.