Teacher's Union Recommends New Path for State Education

by Michelle Faust

The Ohio Education Association Commission on Student Success released a report last week recommending new policies for the state’s education system. The report was first presented to legislators and the State Board of Education on Wednesday.

“We wanted to lay out what a high-quality system—that’s well aligned, particularly related to student assessment, teacher quality and teacher evaluation, and school accountability and school improvement—looks like,” OEA Vice President Scott DiMauro summarizes the report’s recommendations

The teachers’ union says the current system places too much emphasis on standardized testing, to the detriment of students and teachers alike. The concern is frequent tests take time away from instruction and are not the best assessment of what students can do or how well a teacher has taught.

DiMauro says the report proposes a system, “Moving away from an emphasis on standardized testing and more to authentic assessment, more to performance based assessment, more to student exhibitions and portfolios at the classroom level is a big part of our recommendation.”

The report includes praise for the Every Student Succeeds Act signed into law late last year by president Obama.

Every Student Succeeds Act signed into law late last year by president Obama.