The group, Advocates for Testing Alternatives, has worked with organizations like N.C. Citizens for Democratic Schools to develop a multifaceted testing procedure platform. The proposal would offer alternative means for determining students' retention or promotion to the next grade level.
Kathie Guild, a member of the ATA, said the group's main problem is the exclusive use of end-of-grade test scores as criteria for evaluation. The group claims such tests are an inaccurate measure of what students actually learn in school.
The ATA proposes a more varied approach to evaluation, including a portfolio showing a student's progress during the school year and a restructured performance exam that would better test a student's creative abilities. The proposal would maintain standardized testing but would make the traditional tests hold less weight. "We are all for proficiency and standards, but we want to make sure it isn't restrictive," Guild said.
Presently the state requires students in fifth grade to pass an end-of-grade test before moving on to sixth grade. But Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools and 64 other N.C. districts have mandated these tests for promotion after third and eighth grade as well. If a student does not pass the test, he or she can retake it a week later and again after summer school if necessary. The student's principal then decides whether to retain or promote the student to the next grade level.
But Guild said having students retake the test is not a good way of addressing the problem. "We need to see if they actually understand the learning process," she said.
School board member Teresa Williams said the board knows the tests are a concern among some parents and teachers, but added that the board does not have the authority to change the standards. "North Carolina has accountability measures," she said. "We can't move beyond what the state calls for."
The Common Sense Foundation has also worked with the ATA, providing them with research on the effects of standardized testing. Daniella Cook, a fair testing organizer for Common Sense, will present a report on national trends in standardized testing and its impact on the state's students at the next ATA meeting. The meeting will be at 7 p.m. March 15 at the Chapel Hill Public Library. "One thing in educational research that is solid is that retention doesn't work."
Cook also said that the process of changing the system won't be easy, but is possible. "Reforming public education is complex. If there was a simple answer, we would have found it already."
