Monday, March 13, 2000
Support wanes for proficiency testing
Teachers, parents say tests not fair measure
The Associated Press
DAYTON, Ohio — Public support for the state's proficiency exams, designed to ensure that schools and teachers are educating children, may be weakening, the Dayton Daily News reported Sunday.
The tests, to be taken this month by hundreds of thousands of Ohio students, are drawing increasing criticism from educators and parents who say the exams are too difficult for younger children and don't really measure what children know.
State law requires that districts give fourth-, sixth-, ninth- and 12th-grade proficiency tests in reading, writing, math, citizenship and science.
Graduation requirement
Students who do not pass all of the ninth-grade tests cannot graduate. Beginning in 2002, students who do not pass the reading portion of the fourth-grade proficiency test will not be able to go to the fifth grade unless the teacher and principal think they are ready for fifth-grade work.
Judy Hennessey, superintendent of the Oakwood School District in suburban Dayton, said parent-teacher groups in her community have expressed “a growing restlessness about the time and energy spent on preparing for, agonizing over and administering the proficiency tests, and about the anxiety their children experience about the tests at home.”
One of the state's most active parental critics lives in Upper Arlington, one of Columbus' wealthiest suburbs.
Jenny Rytel began to question the wisdom of proficiency testing two years ago when she spent time in the classrooms of her children's elementary school.
“I saw teachers putting down extremely worthwhile projects to teach to the test,” said Ms. Rytel, who has helped form an Ohio chapter of the “Freedom in Education Alliance” to advocate against proficiency testing.
Ms. Rytel said she and her fellow critics are not against standards, accountability and school reform.
But Ms. Rytel thinks standardized tests should be only part of a school's assessment and accountability system. Ohio's system places too much emphasis on proficiency tests, and the punitive measures the system attaches to failing the tests are abusive, Ms. Rytel said.
Taft endorses tests
Gov. Bob Taft has vigorously defended the tests, saying they have resulted in significant school improvement across the state. The tests have forced schools to focus on what students need to know and on the most effective teaching methods to help students learn, Mr. Taft said.
In some areas of Ohio, however, parent groups are actively encouraging a boycott of the tests.
Linda McKeag, chairwoman of the parent-teacher organization at Norwich Elementary School in the Columbus suburb of Hilliard, has set a personal goal of persuading 50 percent of her school's parents to “opt out” their children from the proficiency tests.
But Jan Crandell, assistant director of assessment and evaluation for the Ohio Department of Education, said parents would be better off going to legislators about their concerns instead of a staging a boycott.
She said the school building and school district report cards will suffer from the actions of those parents who boycott the tests.
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