Come Spring, Students Will Be Taking Standardized Tests

Third-graders, eighth-graders and 11th-graders in the Spokane Valley are taking new standardized tests this spring.

That’s right. Standardized tests. The old fill-in-the bubble, multiple-choice tests.

While Washington’s schoolchildren are undergoing a well-publicized introduction into new state tests that explore thinking processes and communication skills, the more traditional standardized tests have not been abandoned.

Third- and eighth-graders are taking the Iowa Basic Skills Test this month. Next month, eleventh-graders will take the Iowa Test of Educational Development.

The new state tests also will come along later this spring for fourth-, seventh- and 10th-graders. This will be the first year that 10th-graders will receive scores on the state tests.

“Both have strengths, both have drawbacks. And between them both, we get a whole lot of information,” said Geoff Praeger, testing coordinator for Central Valley School District.

Depending on the grade level and the school district, the Iowa tests cover math, reading, language arts, social studies and science.

This is the first year third-graders in this state have taken such tests. Before this year, standardized tests were given to fourth-, eighth- and 11th-graders. No one wanted to have the fourth-graders subjected to both the standardized tests and the new Washington Assessment of Student Learning, or WASLs. The state tests are given to fourth-, seventh- and 10th-graders.

The Legislature decided last year to move the standardized tests to the third-graders.

The changes in testing may continue, said Sara Smith, staff development and testing coordinator for the East Valley School District.

The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction is asking lawmakers to move the standardized tests to third, sixth and ninth grades. That way at each grade level, the standardized tests would precede the new state tests.