Bill Text: HI SCR157 | 2016 | Regular Session | Amended

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Bill Title: Requesting DOE to reduce reliance on standardized testing in the public education system

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-03-29 - Report adopted, as amended (SD 1) and referred to WAM. [SCR157 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2016-SCR157-Amended.html

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THE SENATE	S.C.R. NO.	157
TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2016		S.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO REDUCE THE USE OF STANDARDIZED TESTING IN THE PUBLIC EDUCATION SYSTEM.

 

 

     WHEREAS, enactment of the federal No Child Left Behind law in 2001 and Race to the Top program in 2009 shifted national education priorities from inquiry-based teaching to standardized testing; and

 

     WHEREAS, the nation's school systems spend increasing amounts of time, money, and energy on standardized testing, in which student performance on standardized tests is used to evaluate individual students, educators, and schools; and

 

     WHEREAS, an overemphasis on standardized testing has negatively impacted public schools, teachers, and students by narrowing academic curricula, reducing arts and cultural education, causing teachers to teach to the test, decreasing whole child and vocational programming, and creating a climate of compliance and fear among students, teachers, and administrators; and

 

     WHEREAS, the negative impact of standardized testing most directly affects low-income students, English language learners, students from minority ethnic backgrounds, and students with disabilities; and

 

     WHEREAS, according to a 2014 study conducted by the National Education Association, seventy-two percent of teachers feel considerable pressure to improve test scores and a majority of teachers report spending too much time on testing and test preparation, with the average teacher spending approximately thirty percent of their time on tasks related to standardized tests; and

 

     WHEREAS, the 2014 PDK/Gallup Poll of the Public's Attitudes Toward the Public Schools found that only thirty-one percent of parents support using standardized test scores to evaluate teachers; and

 

     WHEREAS, there is a diverse and bipartisan movement to opt out of standardized testing led by students, parents, teachers, administrators, and organizations including the National Center for Fair and Open Testing and United Opt Out National; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Department of Education administers standardized tests in multiple grade levels that are aligned with the Common Core State Standards, including the Smarter Balanced Assessment; and

 

     WHEREAS, in the 2014-2015 school year, approximately ninety-three thousand Hawai‘i public school students in grades three to eight and grade eleven took standardized tests aligned with the Common Core State Standards, at a cost of $65 per test; and

 

     WHEREAS, the estimated cost of standardized testing does not include time spent on test preparation, interim testing, test-driven curricula, classroom materials related to standardized testing, computer equipment and personnel needed to administer standardized tests, consultants contracted to assist with assessment preparation and delivery, and the opportunity cost of educational programs eliminated to increase time for standardized testing; and

 

     WHEREAS, in 2015, President Barack Obama criticized the proliferation of standardized testing throughout the nation and called on school districts to limit time spent preparing for and taking standardized tests to no more than two percent of a student's instructional time; and

 

     WHEREAS, the federal Every Student Succeeds Act provides states with increased flexibility in the use of standardized testing, including eliminating federally mandated inclusion of standardized tests in teacher evaluations, allowing states to choose what test to use for annual school assessments, permitting states to institute a cap limiting the amount of time that students spend preparing for and taking standardized tests, and providing funding to states for auditing and streamlining assessment systems; and

 

     WHEREAS, numerous states have begun implementing authentic assessments, which deemphasize standardized testing and, instead, focus on student performance indicators that promote critical thinking, open-ended questioning, and collaborative learning; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-eighth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2016, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Department of Education is requested to reduce the use of standardized testing in the public education system; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board of Education is requested to develop and implement authentic assessments for schools that do not require extensive standardized testing; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Education is requested to limit the number of days a student spends preparing for or taking standardized tests, including practice and interim tests, to no more than three days per school year; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Education is requested to inform students and parents about the purpose, potential impact, and protocol of any standardized test that a student is expected to take, including the right to opt out of statewide standardized testing; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Education and the Board of Education are requested to hold meetings with principals, parents, and teachers for the purpose of gathering diverse input on the impact of standardized testing and possible alternatives; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Chairperson of the Board of Education, and Superintendent of Education.

 

 

 

Report Title: 

Requesting DOE to reduce reliance on standardized testing in the public education system