I strongly support of Delegate Helmer’s assessment reform bill. This bill reflects many of the recommendations of the House Bill 585 assessment task force.
As Senator VanValkenburg stated, this bill is test agnostic – it’s not touching the issue of the number of tests, but just trying to make them better.
I also like the new guardrails put on local assessments. I’m a huge skeptic of these local assessments, which have an inherent conflict of interest when you have a school district’s employees grading them. I understand this bill is not the place to address their merit.
I also strongly like the fact that the bill requires that SOL and local assessment scores be on an intuitive 100-point scale vs. the current nonsensical 600-point scale.
In addition, I strongly support the provision making an SOL exam at least 10% of a student’s final grade. This provision will likely reduce grade inflation and decrease the growing discrepancy between grades and standardized test scores. And it will effectively prevent districts from eliminating final exams for all classes, an anti-rigor fad that fails to prepare kids for college.
Lastly, I agree with Delegate Helmer and Senator VanValkenburg that this bill relates to our state’s future economic development.
I strongly support of Delegate Helmer’s assessment reform bill. This bill reflects many of the recommendations of the House Bill 585 assessment task force. As Senator VanValkenburg stated, this bill is test agnostic – it’s not touching the issue of the number of tests, but just trying to make them better. I also like the new guardrails put on local assessments. I’m a huge skeptic of these local assessments, which have an inherent conflict of interest when you have a school district’s employees grading them. I understand this bill is not the place to address their merit. I also strongly like the fact that the bill requires that SOL and local assessment scores be on an intuitive 100-point scale vs. the current nonsensical 600-point scale. In addition, I strongly support the provision making an SOL exam at least 10% of a student’s final grade. This provision will likely reduce grade inflation and decrease the growing discrepancy between grades and standardized test scores. And it will effectively prevent districts from eliminating final exams for all classes, an anti-rigor fad that fails to prepare kids for college. Lastly, I agree with Delegate Helmer and Senator VanValkenburg that this bill relates to our state’s future economic development.