Less Testing, More Learning

NORTH CAROLINA TAKES STEPS TO REDUCE TESTING IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS

- Kurt Dusterberg

The arrival of the 2019-2020 school year brought about changes in testing for North Carolina public schools. As part of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the State of North Carolina won federal approval to change its testing policy for math and reading for elementary and middle schools.

The Innovative Assessment Demonstration Authority allows a state education agency (SEA) — or consortium of SEAs — that meet certain application requirements to establish, operate and evaluate an innovative assessment system, potentially for use in a statewide accountability system. North Carolina’s pilot program is expected to replace end-of-year testing with three “through-grade” tests administered throughout the school year that give teachers the opportunity to teach from the results. Such formative assessments differ from summative assessments administered at the end of a school year.

MORE STATE CONTROL

The Innovative Assessment Demonstration Authority is a component of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act. U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos also approved a similar situation for Georgia for the 2019-2020 school year. As part of the program, states can pilot new and innovative assessments on a small scale and avoid double-testing students on both pilot and statewide exams.

The push for reduced testing grew from the North Carolina Board of Education’s Task Force on Summative Assessment in 2014-2015, through which educators, parents and other stakeholders first developed the current system of through-grade assessments.