A+ idea: Advance school-testing changes

It can be maddening to watch the Florida Legislature waste so much time and energy bickering over issues like the sliver of the state budget dedicated to economic development when more fundamental and far-reaching concerns deserve more attention. But legislators, to their credit, are on the verge of taking action on a problem that has been festering for years: a glut of standardized testing in public schools.

Testing has been a cornerstone in Florida’s system of holding students, teachers and schools accountable for results. It has helped drive improvements in academic performance, especially for minority and low-income students. It’s an essential tool for gauging how students compare with their counterparts in other states and other countries.

But students, parents, teachers and administrators have long complained about the sheer number of tests — 3.6 million statewide last year — and the hours in the classroom that are dedicated to preparing for them and taking them.

Besides the volume of tests, Broward County school leaders would like end-ofcourse exams to carry less weight. And for years, Palm Beach County school leaders have complained that test scores are given too much weight in evaluating teachers, and determining whether students are promoted or allowed to graduate.

This year much of Florida’s school testing window began in late February and ends in mid-May — a schedule that forces cramming in the middle of the school year, then leaves what many teachers consider “dead time” between the last test and the end of the year. Students in third grade through high school take the language arts and math exams that make up the Florida Standards Assessments, and many also take standardized science and social studies tests. Most tests are taken online, which takes schools weeks longer to administer because computers are limited.

Test results are often delayed, depriving teachers of beneficial information they could use to adjust their lesson plans. Parents get frustrated by scores they often find difficult to interpret.

A Senate bill that cleared its final committee hurdle this past week would address these problems without abandoning testing and accountability. It has been widely backed by school superintendents, school board members, teachers and parent advocacy groups.

Sponsored by Sen. Anitere Flores, a Miami Republican, the bill would push language arts and math exams to the last three weeks of the school year. It would require results on district tests to be delivered within a week to teachers. It would require the scores on statewide tests to be provided to both teachers and parents in “an easy-toread and understandable format.”

The Senate bill also would pare back the number of tests by eliminating some endof-course exams. It would allow students who do well enough on national tests to forgo some state exams. It would call for a study of replacing statewide tests with national exams. And it would give districts the flexibility they deserve to choose between computer and paper-and-pencil testing.

A testing bill moving through the House began as less ambitious. It moved the testing window and called for studying the possibility of using national exams, but didn’t drop any tests. However, it was amended last week in committee to incorporate more of the Senate bill’s provisions. There is now enough overlap between the two chambers to expect them to agree to a compromise that will become law. Florida schools would be better off if legislators end up closer to the Senate’s position.

There is a risk, however, that unrelated and contentious provisions added in committee to the Senate bill could throw a wrench into negotiations between the two chambers. Legislators would be foolish to let those issues prevent an overdue overhaul of the state’s testing system.

Students, parents, teachers and administrators have long complained about the sheer number of tests — 3.6 million statewide last year — and the hours in the classroom that are dedicated to preparing for them and taking them.