No. 2 Pencils Worn Out Number Of Standardized Exams Grows, With Only Three States Giving More

Only three states put public school students through more standardized tests than Idaho.

And this week, as the state’s third-through 11th-graders prepare to pick up their No. 2 pencils, open their booklets and swallow anxiety for another round, questions remain about the value of having one of the nation’s most extensive assessment programs.

Only a couple of years ago, just fourth-, eighth- and 11th-grade students took the Iowa Test of Basic Skills or the related Tests of Achievement and Proficiency, as well as the state’s own Direct Writing Assessment.

Since 1995, state Schools Superintendent Anne Fox has led a drive to expand testing to six more grades, added a Direct Mathematics Assessment for fourth- and eighth-graders and started developing state tests for science and social studies.

Only Alabama, New Mexico and West Virginia require students to take standardized tests at more grade levels. More than 172,000 Idaho students take at least one test each year, taking from two hours to more than five hours of class time.

“By adding the years that we added we now can start charting how our students are doing over time, see if they’re getting gains over time,” Fox said. “Also, the test scores are validating what the business people were saying, that we needed improvement in reading and math skills.”

Although parents seem to support aggressive testing, they remain skeptical of the results. Two years ago, when the Coeur d’Alene School District announced dramatic improvements in test scores, some parents questioned whether the tests even gauged basic skills.

Similar skepticism has been heard around the state as testing has increased.

This fall, Fox will ask a balky state Board of Education for another $500,000 next year to continue providing detailed analyses of the results - called “pupil profiles” - for local school administrators, teachers and parents.

“Questions that I asked last time I would ask again this time,” board member Curtis Eaton of Twin Falls said. “What exactly have we gotten out of the $500,000? What have the tests helped us achieve? Where does national testing fit in with the overall program for curriculum development?”

Last fall Eaton and two others on the eight-member board voted against recommending funds for the expanded testing program this year. Even those who supported Fox’s proposal urged her to show them - by the time the next budget is put together - how the extensive testing applies to the board’s efforts to develop new high school graduation requirements.

Those “exiting standards” will be used by local school districts as minimum accountability and student-competency measurements. A 10-member public commission is being appointed by the Board of Education to guide subject-area committees in developing the standards over the next few years.

Fox contends annual testing can help not only with assessing school performance, but also with identifying needs for curriculum improvement locally and statewide.

She admits state-specific tests like those already in place for writing and math - “production” tests showing a student’s work rather than fill-in-the-bubble multiple-choice exams - likely will be used to measure whether Idaho’s exiting standards are being met.

But she also expects to continue the current level of standardized testing, “because we’ll need a baseline to compare ourselves to the nation.”

Eaton is not so sure.

“It seems to me that doing it on a periodic basis, maybe two or three grades rather than in all grades, might be a good checkpoint,” he said. “Maybe we could spend our money better accelerating the exiting standards process.”

Wenden Waite, chairman of elementary education and specialized studies at Boise State University’s College of Education, said two or three grades might not be enough to effectively analyze where improvements are needed in how students are taught.

“Testing is only a sample of the behavior. If you don’t get enough samples, then it’s difficult to make a decision,” Waite said. “If it’s important to teach, it’s important to know whether it has been learned.”

Eaton has no quarrel with that. But so far there is only anecdotal information on whether school officials are applying what they learn from the standardized test results to what happens in class.

“We have no comprehensive response from the districts throughout the state as to the overall usefulness of the tests on an annual basis,” he said.

Idaho Education Association President Robin Nettinga, an eighth-grade language arts teacher from Nampa, said standardized tests can be valuable if they are interpreted properly. But she said they should not be used “to see who’s ahead, which school scores higher.”

“There certainly are areas in there that reflect what students need to know. But in many cases those tests give a narrow view of what students should be capable of doing,” Nettinga said.

Vallivue School District Superintendent Vaughn Heinrich has been a leader among local administrators in applying the test results to his classrooms.

His district uses students’ year-to-year test analyses to help determine the success of a “core math” program that emphasizes using basic skills in problem solving. They also are an aid to determining whether girls do as well as boys in science and math, and in identifying potential problems with how Hispanic students are taught math and language arts.

“There are a lot of districts and a lot of educators who feel it’s not relevant and they don’t pay much attention to it,” Heinrich said. “Like anything else, if you don’t pay much attention to it, it’s not of much value to you.”

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: COMPARING THE TESTS Idaho requirements for national standardized tests are far greater than those in surrounding states. Here is a comparison of Idaho’s testing regimen and those of its neighbors, according to the Council of Chief State School Officers in Washington, D.C.

Idaho Third-, fifth- and seventh-graders take the complete battery of the Iowa Test of Basic Skills. Fourth-, sixth- and eighth-graders take a short form of the test. Ninth-, 10th- and 11th-graders take the related Tests of Achievement and Proficiency. All administered in October. Fourth- and eighth-graders take the Direct Mathematics Assessment on Jan. 27, and fourth-, eighth- and 11th-graders take the Direct Writing Assessment on Feb. 10.

Montana Fourth-, eighth- and 11th-graders are tested.

Nevada Fourth-, eighth-, 11th- and 12th-graders are tested.

Oregon Third-, fifth-, eighth- and 11th-graders are tested.

Utah Testing is mandatory for fifth-, eighth- and 11th-graders and voluntary for all other grades, second through 12th.

Washington Fourth-, eighth- and 11th-graders are tested.

Wyoming A random sampling of ninth- through 12th-grade students are tested.