Many Ohio educators aren鈥檛 satisfied with the latest plan outlining Ohio鈥檚 approach to education policy. Teachers鈥� unions and groups of school administrators call the draft ESSA plan a 鈥渕issed opportunity鈥� to reduce the number of standardized tests.
In early February, the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) released its draft plan to comply with the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The plan doesn鈥檛 reduce the number of standardized tests that Ohio children take over a 12-year public education.
鈥淲e over-test,鈥� says Dr. Jim Lloyd, Superintendent of the Olmsted Falls City School District. 鈥淎nd when you do that, you shrink the curriculum down to only those things [tested] 鈥揳nd you may not necessarily do it purposefully鈥攂ut that's the reality of what happens.鈥�
Lloyd is one of 30 Ohio administrators to sign on to a white paper responding to the Ohio draft ESSA plan. The document is critical of a number of a number of parts of the draft, including the state school report card system, but at its center, it calls for less standardized tests.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the status quo,鈥� says Becky Higgins, president of the state鈥檚 largest teachers鈥� union the Ohio Education Association. 鈥淲e are questioning the reasoning behind that, just like the superintendents are.鈥�
That point echoes community feedback collected before the plan was drafted. ODE got responses from 15,000 Ohioans through 10 meetings throughout the state, an online survey, and a series of webinars. Respondents reported they want students to be tested less often, and for the state to stop changing which tests it uses.
Who鈥檚 requiring the tests?
Congress passed ESSA with bipartisan support in 2015. Many lawmakers voted for it because it created greater flexibility for states to come up with their own plans to comply with federal education policy.
But ESSA still requires federal standardized testing.
The educators鈥� response drew attention to an ESSA requirement of 17 tests over the course of a child鈥檚 education, but Ohio requires 24 tests. State law mandates more tests than the feds do, for example social studies assessments. Most of the federally-required tests assess students鈥� math and language arts skills.
鈥淭he reality is: the way that math and language arts go, that's how the other subjects go as well,鈥� Lloyd says.
Lloyd and other educators want to see a more flexible approach, but that would require a change in state law.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not just the state tests, but you have to remember that the local districts also give their own tests,鈥� the OEA鈥檚 Higgins says. 鈥淪o, it鈥檚 tests on top of tests. When you鈥檙e taking all that time on testing, it means less time for teaching and learning for the students. And this was an opportunity to reduce the number of tests.鈥�
Is there a choice?
Reducing the number of state tests is not as simple as writing it into the Ohio ESSA plan, according to Chris Woolard, ODE Senior Executive Director for Accountability and Continuous Improvement.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 a conversation that happens with state leaders, including the state legislature, because this is in state law,鈥� he says.
Woolard also recommends that district leaders look at some of the assessments given at the district level to see if some tests are redundant.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of opportunity there for districts to think strategically about how they use tests for different things,鈥� Woolard says.
Some educators see district tests as being driven by state requirements. Canton City School District Superintendent Adrian Allison says districts follow the state鈥檚 lead.
鈥淭hese are by-products of a system that you鈥檝e created,鈥� explains Allison, who is also co-chair of The Ohio 8 Coalition, an alliance of the state鈥檚 urban district leaders.
鈥淭hat would be foolish practice not to give diagnostic tests for kids to find out where they are, and figure out where improvement needs to happen in order to then take their final assessment,鈥� Allison says.
Other options?
Representatives for Ohio educators wanted to see the plan include, at least, aspirations to test students less often. State officials explain the state document for the feds is just not the place to address that concern.
鈥淭his ESSA plan is important, but it鈥檚 just one piece of a larger conversation around education policy,鈥� Woolard says, citing graduation requirements as an example.
Some ODE work groups are examining the high school graduation requirements and evaluation methods for teachers, and both relate directly to state tests.
鈥淭hose conversations are happening鈥� but you鈥檙e not necessarily going to see those details fleshed out in the ESSA plan, because that鈥檚 not the place for it,鈥� he explains.
Some superintendents disagree.
鈥淲e absolutely believe that part of this plan should take into account a reduction in testing,鈥� Allison says.
The Ohio 8 Coalition believes that part of the problem is that ODE set a stricter than necessary deadline for itself to submit the state plan to the U.S. Department of Education. Under the federal law, states have a deadline of April 3 or September 18.
The urban school superintendent organization maintains the state should have opted for the later deadline.
鈥淭hat gives you that space if you need to have dialogue with legislators about what do we need to change in our system,鈥� Allison says. He would have liked to see a movement in the legislature to reduce the number of tests included in the state budget that must pass before the end of June. It could have then been included in the education plan submitted later in the year.
While ODE says the state plan can be updated, as needed, the deadline to choose the draft submission date for peer review was in January.
What鈥檚 the matter with testing?
鈥淲hen you get people who are making laws to try to hold districts accountable, the easiest and cleanest way to do it is just to give kids a test for three hours, get the results, rank everybody, and go, 鈥榯hese schools are really good and these schools aren鈥檛 really good,鈥欌�� says Superintendent Lloyd. 鈥淏ut there's just so much more inside the black box of learning than just summative assessment.鈥�
Teachers repeat a similar sentiment regularly.
鈥淎ll the time spent on preparing for the tests, practicing for the tests, and then the time spent administering the tests and the students taking the tests is taking away from the real teaching and learning that is imperative for our students to have,鈥� says Higgins from OEA.
Lloyd wants the state to be more creative in the way learning in Ohio is assessed.
His colleague in Canton, Allison, agrees.
鈥淥ne size doesn鈥檛 fit all. And there鈥檚 a whole different way that you measure learning. Measuring learning doesn鈥檛 always happen by filling in a bubble on a prescribed test,鈥� Allison says.
Put simply, the educators say they鈥檙e fine with measuring and reporting how Ohio students are doing. But they want a different yard stick than a standardized test to do the measuring.
Lloyd describes a formative assessment as a GPS that shows the path a student is on in their learning. Summative assessments, the kind the federal government requires in the form of a standardized test, are like 鈥渓ooking in a rear view mirror.鈥�
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 go back and change it,鈥� Lloyd says.
Formative assessments take many forms every day in classrooms: observation of classroom discussions, projects, or portfolio work. The results give educators a sense of what their lessons should better reinforce. Lloyd says with a little creativity a plan could be devised to take what鈥檚 already happening in schools, formalize it, and report it to ODE.
Woolard at ODE says the state鈥檚 tests are designed to be formative. Still, some educators aren鈥檛 satisfied with the model.
The superintendents clarify that they aren鈥檛 opposed to being held accountable for student learning. But Allison says it should happen in a different way, one that does 鈥渘ot treat our kids like they are widgets, but instead we would treat them like they are individual learners.鈥�
What鈥檚 next?
鈥淭hat plan is not the end-all, be-all, nor is it mean to be the larger plan for education in Ohio,鈥� Woolard says.
Officials at ODE say changes that come from multiple committees and work groups may end up in the ESSA plan as they are addressed.
The public comment period for the draft closes March 6 th. It will be submitted to the U.S. Department of Education for peer review on April 3 rd.
Superintendent Lloyd and the administrators who signed on to the draft response to the draft Ohio ESSA plan are working on another document with more detailed suggestion on how they think ODE should make revisions, not only to ESSA, but to the state鈥檚 system of testing going forward.
The district superintendents with The Ohio 8 Coalition are drafting their response to the Ohio ESSA plan, which will be released soon.
Superintendent Allison acknowledges the reducing standardized testing in Ohio will be a complex task, but he says it needs to happen.
鈥淩ight now, we鈥檙e hurting our kids with this testing,鈥� he says. 鈥淏ecause they feel the pressure, the parents feel the pressure, the districts feel the pressure, and I鈥檓 not sure that it ultimately reflects what鈥檚 happening in classrooms across the state.鈥�