School principal challenges ISATs

TWIN FALLS, Idaho – A middle school principal is mounting a challenge to the state’s Idaho Standards Achievement Test.

Filer Principal Greg Lantig is collecting signatures on a petition urging the state Board of Education to make the fall round of standardized testing voluntary.

Lantig said the tests tie up his school’s computer lab for weeks, and that schools should be able to choose which students take the fall tests. Lantig said he would like to reserve fall standardized tests for students who did poorly on previous tests.

At least some community members agree. Lantig said he has collected between 500 and 1,000 signatures so far, and he’s still collecting names. He plans to send the petitions to the state Board of Education, the governor and local legislators.

The state currently requires Idaho students in certain grades to take two sets of tests – one in the fall, another in the spring. The spring tests are used to calculate a school’s progress under federal No Child Left Behind mandates.

“A lot of districts don’t like it,” state board spokesman Mark Browning said of the tests. “Everything is on the table for review. Hearing people’s voices is absolutely critical to successful governance. … When we get a petition in here we make sure the committee gets a look at it.”