National Assessments on the Horizon
A former colleague of mine returned from a big meeting of Chief State School Officers and their Departments. The topic was the Common Core of Standards. Today this release came out informing everyone about a competition to create a “Common Assessment” to go with the “Common Standards.”
Word on the street has it that officials feel a “sense of urgency” and a small window of time to get this done before the next election looms and everyone turns their attention to other matters.
Is there still anyone out there that doubts some form of national testing is on the way?
Here is the news release that came out:
Dear Education Stakeholders,
Today, the U.S. Department of Education announced it will hold public meetings across the nation to listen and learn from assessment experts and practitioners. The goals of these meetings are two-fold: to gather technical input to inform the development of a Race to the Top Assessment Competition and to enable states, who will be the competition applicants, and the public to participate in and learn from these events.
Secretary Arne Duncan has pledged to reserve up to $350 million to support consortia of states that are working to create new assessments tied to a common set of standards. These grants would be distributed through a competitive process next year. The grants would come from the $4.35 billion Race to the Top Fund and be awarded through a separate program from the larger State competition.
Over six days of meetings in three cities throughout November and December, Department officials will solicit a wide-range of input from assessment practitioners and researchers about innovative and effective approaches to the development of the next generation of assessments. In each city, there will be a full-day focused on general assessment issues and half-days concentrating on specific topics.
The meetings will be held on the following dates and locations:
BOSTON, MA
Thursday, November 12 – Friday, November 13
Full-day panel (Thursday, Nov. 12, 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.): General assessment
Half-day panel (Friday, Nov. 13, 9:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.): Technology & innovation
Half-day panel (Friday, Nov. 13, 1:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.): High school assessment
ATLANTA, GA
Tuesday, November 17 – Wednesday, November 18
Full-day panel (Tuesday, Nov. 17, 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.): General assessment
Half-day panel (Wednesday, Nov. 18, 9:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.): Assessment of students with disabilities
DENVER, CO
Tuesday, December 1 – Wednesday, December 2
Full-day panel (Tuesday, Dec. 1, 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.): General assessment
Half-day panel (Wednesday, Dec. 2, 9:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.): Assessment of English language learners
The meetings are open to the public. The official notice, along with information on how to RSVP for the meetings, can be found on our web site at www.ed.gov/programs/racetothetop-assessment. The Department encourages the submission of written input (see details of submission process on our web site), and plans to post transcripts of every meeting session and all written input submitted to the agency at www.ed.gov/programs/racetothetop-assessment.
Thank you for your interest.
Massie Ritsch
Deputy Assistant Secretary for External Affairs and Outreach
U.S. Department of Education
Stacey Jordan
Director of Intergovernmental Affairs
U.S. Department of Education
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Where has the state’s role gone? The idea of national standards and assessments aside (good or bad), our Constitution does not provide for federal jurisdiction of public education. Who’s driving?
National standards and assessments are definitely on the way. In my opinion, they are the only fair way of holding all states to the same accountability.
Capitalism is driving. So long as states take federal money to pay for educational programs, the federal government will have that much more power, Constitution or not, to make educational decisions.
The more important question from my point of view is which system is best for the students? If national standards improve the quality of education for all students then I can’t see the issue with them. As for national testing, would it be more reliable and valid than our current state test PAWS?