Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) speaks to parents, teachers, and students at Shaker Hts. High School. One of his daughters attended the school.
Even though school was out of session at Shaker Heights High School, a group of teachers, parents, and students crowded into a theater on Monday to vent their frustration about standardized tests.They came to hear Sen. Sherrod Brown talk about reducing the number of tests required by federal law.Ohio students spent an average of 20 hours on standardized tests this year, including PARCC tests, OAA tests,and OGT tests.
Brown says about 42 percent of the exams are state and local tests.All that time with testing has caused a backlash from parents and teachers.Shaker Hts. English teacher Jody Podl said the tests are used to evaluate teachers and schools but they don’t take all aspect of child’s education into account“And even though they don’t measure all that matters, they have become all that matters,” she said.A Shaker Heights parent of a sixth and eighth grader, Jennie Kaffen, said this was the worst year ever for tests. She thought they were sending the wrong message to her kids this spring about a change in priorities.“The priorities seems to be more about how we do on these tests whereas all year it’s been about how I improve my writing skill and my ability to read and comprehend and talk about books,” she said.In the U.S. Senate, Sherrod Brown has sponsored an amendment to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act otherwise known as No Child Left Behind that would provide grants to states so they can evaluate all their tests and eliminate any duplication. It’s known as the SMART act. Shaker Hts principle Gregory Hutchings says his district just finished its own study.“We’ve identified a number of tests we administered district wide that provides us with the same data and the same information so there really is no rhyme or reason for us to actually administer both,” he said.The House and Senate are expected to vote on the Elementary and Secondary Education Act this summer.