California school officials eye new tests to go with new standards
Goodbye, STAR. Hello, MAPP.
In another major step toward revamping the way California evaluates students, top education officials announced their intention to suspend the Standardized Testing and Reporting System beginning this year.
The STAR tests are given each spring to most public school students in California. Results are used to Scott Chandler Black Jersey calculate each school's Academic Performance Index.
But as California transitions to Common Core Standards, a Scott Chandler Jersey new set of expectations of what students should learn, officials have begun the transition to new exams. And they say it's confusing for teachers to be in the process of implementing a new system and be expected to give exams that measure the old one.
"Our need is to make a clean break from the past and begin using more assessments to help students understand what's going to be asked" of them, said Michael Kirst, president of the California Board of Education. Kirst reported hearing teachers complain about competing forces: "We're caught in a dilemma: There are two different tests going on, and what knowledge is most worth knowing?"
Schools will have the option to participate in a trial test of the Measurement of Academic Performance and Progress, MAPP, the new set of exams intended to replace STAR.
Some local districts have already participated in trial tests, including Salinas Union High, Carmel Unified and Pacific Grove Unified.
"It's a test of the test," Bonilla said.
Bonilla introduced her bill earlier this year, so school administrators knew the shift was coming. Separately, representatives from different states have been developing new exams to be aligned with Common Core.
"All of us at MPUSD are following (different proposals). There several renditions of what may happen to STAR testing," said Ruben Zepeda, assistant superintendent of secondary education at Monterey Peninsula Unified School District. "It started last January when the governor started talking about reducing the amount of tests teachers are supposed to give. We've been waiting for a resolution or decision to that question."
What surprised some was the proposal to stop STAR testing altogether. Common Core Standards are scheduled to be fully implemented in 201415, with all testing http://www.billsofficialnflstore.com in place by then. For the current school year, students in most grades were expected to continue taking STAR exams.
"I was a bit surprised that (it proposes) to eliminate all the assessments for every grade," Zepeda said.
Because Common Core will require more analysis from students, the exams will be tailored to evaluate those skills. Students will take the tests on computers, which will adapt to the students' skills. That means schools will need to have a lot more computers available.
"It's going to take some time for us to get to a place where we get comfortable for technology for every student," said Dan Burns, associate superintendent of instructional services at Salinas Union High School District. "At some point, the goal is for each student to have access to computer technology like they do for textbooks. Instead of a book, it's an iPad."
But that's going to take some time, Burns said, adding that Salinas Union HighSchool District has 13,800 students.
"Our goal right now is to have enough computers so 25 percent of the students will have access to take the test at the same time," Burns said.
The state http://www.billsofficialnflstore.com/Black+Scott+Chandler+Jersey will provide a greater window of time to allow students to take the tests. Also, districts will be allowed to give paperandpencil exams as opposed to computerized for at least a couple of years while new purchases are made.
State officials say a $1.25 billion grant to schools to help with the transition to Common Core will help. Monterey County will receive an estimated $15 million, or about $200 per student.
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