A long-simmering movement to scale back the use of standardized tests in K-12 education is beginning to see results, with policy makers and politicians in several states limiting””or trying to limit””the time used for assessments, or delaying the consequences tied to them.
In recent months, officials in Missouri have cut back on allocated testing time while New York capped it. Connecticut agreed to let districts delay, for a year, linking teacher evaluations to state test scores. Tennessee officials rescinded a plan to deny teacher licenses based, in part, on their students’ growth on state tests.
Meanwhile, 179 bills related to K-12 testing””a number of them seeking to curb it””have been introduced in statehouses nationwide this legislative session, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, which hadn’t tracked such bills so comprehensively until this year.