State gets plan for transition to statewide tests
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By JoANNE YOUNG / Lincoln Journal Star
Testing 1-2-3-4-5.
The state Board of Education got a look Wednesday at a five-part work plan for the switch by school districts to statewide tests beginning in the 2009-10 school year.
A bill (LB1157) passed this year by the Legislature spelled out the requirements for going to statewide tests in reading, mathematics, science and social studies from the existing STARS system of district tests for reading and math.
And now the state Department of Education has a plan for that transition, with a timeline for updating learning requirements for public school students, developing new tests, complying with federal No Child Left Behind requirements, choosing national standardized tests and reporting them all to parents and the public.
“It’s full steam ahead,” said Pat Roschewski, director of statewide assessment.
The bill made a difference in the volume of work the state department needs to do to comply with the law, Roschewski said.
Education Department staff presented a draft Wednesday of reading-writing-speaking-listening learning requirements, also known as standards, for elementary, middle and high school students.
The reading standards will be updated by July 1, 2009. Mathematics standards will be completed by July 1, 2010. Science and social studies standards will follow in the next two years.
Statewide reading tests for grades third through eighth and one grade in high school will be field-tested next spring and fully implemented in spring 2010.
Roschewski said the plan for the field test will be developed this summer and could include all districts or a sampling of districts.
The field test for a statewide math test will be in spring 2010, with all students joining in the next year.
The STARS district reading and math tests will be used for compliance with No Child Left Behind in 2008-09. But by the 2010-11 school year, the new statewide reading and math tests will be used for federal requirements for No Child Left Behind.
A letter the U.S. Department of Education sent in late April reminded state officials that no assessment system — whether statewide or local — gets automatic approval.
The state will have three years to show the federal department the statewide tests are compliant in:
* Academic content standards
* Academic achievement standards
* Testing for all required grades
* Reliable and valid technical quality
* Alignment with Nebraska’s standards
* Reporting to parents and the public on how students are achieving based on those tests.
The federal agency also requested a public hearing on the compliance agreement by June 6. That won’t happen, said Marilyn Peterson, state director of federal programs, because the hearing requires 30 days notice and the plan for the new process is not yet completed.
Also in the work plan presented to the board are timelines for recommending standardized tests for national comparisons and for reporting scores.
Most districts in the state now use one of three national standardized tests for determining how students are doing compared to other students in the nation who take those tests.
Lincoln Public Schools, for example, has used the Metropolitan Achievement Tests.
The board will make a recommendation this summer on what comparison tests districts should use, Roschewski said.
Reach JoAnne Young at 473-7228 or jyoung@journalstar.com.
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School districts have already spent local dollars developing tests.
Other publized tests show that Nebraska's students rank high in the nation. Do we really need more testing of our children, just to please NCLB and the Feds?
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Anne wrote on May 7, 2008 6:57 pm:
Excuse me but....
Different grade levels, different subjects... it will not be A single test. Multiple tests for multiple grades and multiple subjects.
Another math problem, time spent, dollars spent, to prove that Nebraska students are learning. There are already reports that are available to determine how Nebraska students compare with others in the US.
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Bob wrote on May 7, 2008 7:52 pm: