House Subcommittee Advances Potential First Step to Reducing Locally Mandated Tests
A pencil on a scannable paper answer sheet. (Stock Photo)
Members of the House K-12 Subcommittee unanimously advanced legislation on Tuesday that could be a first step towards reducing the number of locally mandated tests students take.
In addition to the annual Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) and end-of-course (EOC) assessments required by the state, students also take benchmark exams that school districts require to track student progress.
Rep. Scott Cepicky, R-Culleoka, has questioned whether students might benefit from a reduction in locally mandated tests, and he’s sponsoring House Bill 2277 to require public schools to annually submit a schedule of all local assessments they administer. This information would then be provided to the public online.
"What we're trying to do is Garner the playing field of how many tests our kids are actually taking - we already know how many they take from the state - but what they're required to do at the local level to possibly look at, 'How can we eliminate some of those tests?'" Cepicky said.
Tennessee does not currently track the locally mandated assessments that students take.
Testing Reduction History
The bill is among the first to come directly from last year’s Advisory Committee on Innovations in K-12 Education.
The committee held multiple meetings in the summer and fall to discuss a variety of education proposals, including requiring the Department of Education to conduct a review of the methods and merits of locally mandated tests. The committee was supposed to issue its recommendations in December but pushed the deadline to June to give members an opportunity to hold a final meeting.
This year’s legislative session is expected to wrap up before then.
What Else Does House Bill 2277 Do
Cepicky’s bill also mandates the creation of a framework to predict student proficiency levels on the English language arts portion of the TCAP and a nine-member panel to review TCAP questions. The panel, appointed by the governor and speakers, will include teachers from each grade.
Committee Discussion
The bill advanced without opposition, but Rep. Sam McKenzie, D-Knoxville, questioned the necessity of reporting weekly quizzes and tests as part of its parameters, which he was concerned could add a burden to teachers’ workloads.
Cepicky said reporting these tests could provide vital information revealing connections between certain testing practices and academic success.
“What we're asking them to do is to disseminate this information to us so that we can take a look at it, and maybe because it's published by the state, these LEAs (local education agency) can look at this and start to compare,” Cepicky said. “‘Wow, look at this district. Look how much they're testing and look at their scores. Look at this district, they're not testing that much, and look at their scores.’”
The legislation now heads to the House Education Committee for a vote that could come as early as next week.
