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Resolution Revolution: Chamber takes initiative against standardized testing in schools
By Marthe Stinton, mstinton@starlocalnews.com
Area community business leaders are taking a stand against a statewide testing tradition.
The Coppell Chamber of Commerce has passed a resolution stating that standardized, high-stakes testing is strangling the city's public schools. The chamber is calling on the Texas Legislature to re-examine the public school accountability system and to develop a system that encompasses multiple assessments, reflects greater validity, uses more cost efficient sampling techniques and more accurately reflects what students know, said Tony Moline, president of the Coppell Chamber of Commerce.
"Our future workforce depends on the education it receives today," Moline said. "The business leadership in Coppell believes that in the current state-mandated accountability system, far too much instructional time is being spent teaching students to memorize facts and bubble in score sheets ... time that is better spent teaching students to think critically and in engaging them in learning that has relevance in today's world."
"We know that when students are engaged in their learning, they become more creative and learn the material in a deeper, more meaningful way that will be retained over a much longer period of time," he said. "We believe our teachers must be allowed to move away from the traditional model of educating children that was developed for an industrialized nation in the 20th century in favor of a model that will help develop skills for use in business and life: problem-solving, communication and collaboration."
Coppell ISD and the chamber have a longstanding relationship, Moline said, and together hope to influence legislators to change public educations high-stakes testing practices.
"We have been following the issue of high-stakes standardized testing and its impact on students, teachers and the community for some time," Moline said. "These tests now require more time and money for teacher training, student preparation, exam administration and re-test options than ever in the history of standardized testing."
The new State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) test will add 45 more days of testing over the next few years, Moline said.
Beginning this spring, STAAR tests replaced the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS). The STAAR program at grades three through eight assessed the same subjects and grades that are currently assessed on TAKS. At the high school level, however, grade-specific assessments were replaced with 12 end-of-course assessments: Algebra I, geometry, Algebra II, biology, chemistry, physics, English I, English II, English III, world geography, world history and U.S. history, according to Texas Education Agency's website.
STAAR is a more rigorous testing program. It emphasizes "readiness" standards, which are the knowledge and skills that are considered most important for success in the grade or course subject that follows and for college and career. STAAR will contain more test questions at most grades than did TAKS assessments. The high school assessments will move from grade-based tests to course-based exams. For the first time, the state's assessments will have a time limit. Students will have four hours to complete each exam, the website said.
"This prohibits students from experiencing a broad range of learning opportunities that will serve them well in college and in the workforce and the boring memorization of facts is stealing their love of learning," he said. "We know there are other assessment methodologies, such as the use of a stratified random sampling, that are much less intrusive and yet are proven to yield the student data desired by our parents, communities, local business and the state."
The Coppell Independent School District has already passed a resolution concerning high-stakes standardized testing, which acted as the blueprint for several similar resolutions across the country.
Tamerah Ringo, director of communications and public relations for Coppell ISD, said the district is the largest employer in the city and has been looking into the issue for the past 10 years.
"Our business partnership with the Coppell Chamber of Commerce, and many of the businesses that comprise its membership, is longstanding and mutually beneficial as evidenced by this recent show of support," Ringo said. "The business community has embraced his visionary efforts based on the six tenets outlined in the Texas Association of School Administrators' document, 'Creating a New Vision for Public Education in Texas.'"
Other districts also challenged the current testing system, including Sherman ISD, located in far north Texas, Amarillo ISD; El Paso ISD, Magnolia ISD, near Houston; Allen ISD and Rockwall ISD. As of May 24, 519 districts representing more than 3 million students have notified the Texas Association of School Administrators they've adopted the resolution, according to its website. That's more than half the school districts in Texas, which represents more than 3 million students.
"For the past 10 years, Dr. Jeff Turner [superintended for Coppell ISD] has been leading our district through the necessary steps to transform public education -- including the means by which we assess student knowledge -- in Coppell ISD, and our businesses have watched first-hand as the inordinate amount of state-mandated testing has continued to mushroom," Ringo said.
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