Members of the High School Assessment Working Group heard from SAT and ACT representatives at a meeting in December.
Connecticut’s High School Assessment Working Group late yesterday afternoon voted unanimously to eliminate the 11th grade Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) test, and restore precious teaching and learning time for students.
CEA Executive Director Mark Waxenberg, who represents the Association on the working group said, “This is a positive step forward. It will restore much needed instructional time to engage, energize, and excite our students and reveal new possibilities and opportunities. The unanimous vote by stakeholders reduces the number of high-stakes standardized tests students are required to take while still meeting the standards established for our students in 11th grade.”
In addition to SBAC, many high school juniors take a considerable number of tests in a short amount of time, including the SATs and AP exams, and wonder what the value is in having to take the SBAC, too.
The working group will make its recommendation to the governor and legislature to eliminate SBAC and replace it with a nationally recognized college readiness assessment that students are already taking, such as the SAT or the ACT. The recommendation will also outline the need for the new assessment to be adequately funded, in compliance with federal law, and provide accommodations for students with special needs.
“This option allows us to examine the best assessment for all students in the state,” said Waxenberg.
The group plans to work through the summer to decide upon the best assessment to replace SBAC.
I hope they do the same for third graders as well.
The charge of this particular state working group is to examine possibilities for lessening the testing burden for Grade 11 students. However CEA is advocating for an amended Senate Bill 1095 that would create a committee to explore and recommend the most appropriate assessment options for other grades. Contact your legislators to share your own experience with SBAC and let them know why you think the test should be eliminated.