From President Obama's recent call to cap classroom time spent on assessments to Gov. Mark Dayton's renewed push to scale back annual testing ("New push to curtail K-12 testing," Oct. 29), there's been a lot of talk recently about testing in schools.
Like many, I agree with Obama that "learning is about more than filling in the right bubble." However, I worry that an equally important component of his proposed testing plan is being overlooked: We still need high-quality, annual assessments that measure whether all kids are on track.
In fact, as Obama says, such tests are "essential." Here's why:
What gets measured gets done.
As our only statewide annual student test, the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments (MCAs) are just that, and they serve as the most effective, objective way to understand how well kids are learning, how well they will do in college and career, and where resources and attention must be placed.
And yet, Dayton has proposed significantly reducing the MCAs, eliminating math tests in third and fourth grade and reading tests in sixth and seventh grade.
If we do not regularly measure student achievement across schools, student groups and districts, we will not know which need more support and intervention. We also won't know which schools are making the most progress to help students thrive, nor how to craft policies and programs to ramp up and replicate the great work of their students, teachers and administrators.
Finally, if we roll back the MCAs as Dayton has proposed, students and their families wouldn't have a clear, objective understanding of their academic progress during gaps in standards-based testing. This would be especially harmful for our historically underserved learners — namely, children of color — who can't afford to fall through the cracks.
To meet the needs of our most underserved students, we need data on how our kids are doing and who needs the most help. By cutting down the MCAs, equity in education will be much more difficult to accomplish.