Chicago Public Schools Scales Back On Standardized Testing
By Chuck Sudo in News on Aug 7, 2013 5:45PM
Chicago Public Schools announced Tuesday they were cutting back on the amount of standardized testing required for their students, a move the school district said was in response to persistent complaints from the Chicago Teachers Union, parents and groups like Raise Your Hand that the sheer volume of standardized testing took away from vital classroom instruction time.
The reduction of standardized tests from 25 to 10 will also save CPS some money as they’re facing what they claim is a $1 billion budget deficit. CPS CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett said in a statement, “As a former teacher and principal, I felt that our parents and educators raised valid concerns around our testing policy, which is why we launched a rigorous analysis of that policy soon after I became CEO. This reflects their feedback and places a higher value on increased student learning time.”
CPS announced in April they would be eliminating the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) Measures of Academic Progress for Primary Grades (MPG) assessment for kindergarten, first-grade, and second-grade students. Starting this year, the annual assessment calendar will limit standardized District testing to the spring for grades two through eleven and offer schools flexibility to select interim measures to monitor progress.
Instructional Leadership teams at schools will be charged with finding interim tests from a menu of CPS-approved “school choice assessments” or alternate tests of their choice with the requirement that they are aligned to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) to increase student learning time.
CTU President Karen Lewis applauded the District’s decision and said it was a discussion she’s had several times with Byrd-Bennett. But she and others still expressed concerns as to how the remaining tests would be used to evaluate teachers and schools. Raise Your Hand director Wendy Katten was particularly concerned with how CPS would use the NWEA.