The Maryland State Board of Education is expected to delay the development of a new middle school social studies test for at least a year, a small victory for advocates hoping to reduce the amount of testing in schools.
During a wide-ranging discussion of testing issues Monday, state school board members expressed concern that schools be required to ensure students learn government, economics, and history during the early years of their education. At the same time, board members struggled with how to reduce the amount of testing that many parents and public officials believe is excessive.
"This particular one is vital for the future of the country," said board member James Gates. Another board member, Chester Finn, suggested the state could go ahead with the middle school test but give it to a sampling of students rather than require it for every student.
A state commission on testing set up by the legislature sent a series of recommendations to the state board last month. The board will have to vote on each of the recommendations at its board meeting today. In preparation for that vote, a majority of the board members spent four hours at a meeting Monday discussing each of the recommendations before reaching a consensus on nearly all of them.
In the end, the board said it would engage in a "serious study" of social studies tests already being given on the local level so that it can determine if students are learning what is required before the board decides to drops the new social studies test entirely.
Students also must take the high school biology assessment this year, but it will not be a graduation requirement, state board members agreed. The testing commission had asked for a delay while the state develops a new science test for high school that will debut in the 2017-2018 school year.
Teachers and other educators have said the annual spring testing interrupts their classroom schedules. As a result the commission recommended the state loosen the restriction on who can proctor state tests. State board members said they wanted to get input from local school systems before making a decision.
Some school board members said they want greater clarity in the letters sent home with student test results. Under the No Child Left Behind law some schools sent parents false information to make them believe their children's school was performing better than it actually was.
The board wants to make sure that parents of children who are scoring poorly on the PARCC tests are told their children are not on track to go to college.
The state school board decided to vote on the testing issues at its September board meeting to allow time to gather more feedback from the public and interest groups.