If you were to ask the majority of U.S. parents if they would agree to let their children serve as Guinea pigs, they would likely refuse, but in the State of Arizona, they do not have a right to refuse. That is according to Attorney General Mark Brnovich in his recent decision on standardized testing.
Normally, standardized tests go through years of development and testing prior to being administered to children. The test development process is designed to create relevant, unbiased, fair, valid and reliable measurement instruments.
Such was not the case of the AZMerit test.
As Brad McQueen pointed out a year ago this month, although the Arizona Department of Education announced that is created a unique Arizona Common Core statewide test, it was essentially a test developed for others.
At the time, McQueen revealed that the “AZMerit practice tests for 5th grade is identical to Utah’s Common Core practice test. Utah’s Common Core test is called the SAGE test, which stands for the Student Assessment of Growth and Excellence, and is also being created by A.I.R., the same testing company that administers our Common Core test AZMerit.
McQueen also noted that the “AZMerit practice tests for 5th grade is also identical to Florida’s Common Core practice test. Floridians will take the Florida Standards Assessment (FSA) also created and administered by the testing company A.I.R.”
Recently, on his The Ed Tech Scene blog, John Kain, an instructional technology coordinator for a Phoenix area elementary school district, exposed the flaws in the tests.
In light of the glaring flaws and failures, it is inconceivable that parents would agree to let their kids participate in this experiment. Yet, until the AG finally comes to his senses, there is little choice for parents.
One Arizona legislator is trying to give parents some choice. HB2544; schools; statewide achievement assessments; menu, will be heard this Wednesday and its companion bill SB1321 will be heard this Thursday. The bill is not the perfect answer says some, but it is a choice and under Governor Ducey’s faux choice regime, parents have little choice.
A recent study revealed the average public school student takes over 100 tests. Parents want to know the tests are of high quality and worth taking. Parents are the first and last defense in protecting and providing for their children’s education. With so many tests, and a finite number of hours in the classroom, parents wonder what else is being lost in the school day in favor of testing time?
According to Fair Test’s (National Center for Fair & Open Testing) state legislators should work to “Reduce the amount of state-mandated standardized testing, for example, to no more than the federal government requires, or better, to only once every few years (challenging federal law).”
The group also recommends that legislators “put limits on district testing, directly on the number of tests or indirectly by limiting testing time.”
The group also suggests that legislators work to:
Allow parents to opt their children out of testing, also ensuring schools and educators are held harmless from test-based accountability requirements for any students who opt out. Require districts to provide alternative education settings for children who opt out of standardized exams and impose no penalties on parents or children for refusing to test. Allow teachers to openly discuss testing, test consequences and parent rights.
Enact “Truth in Testing” legislation that makes test items public; releases all technical reports; discloses testing costs, including personnel costs and test preparation time; and requires a study and survey on the amount of time spent on testing and test preparation.