Public ed chief: Less time on testing to help state schools


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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico's top public school official said Friday that teachers will have more time to spend with children in the classroom rather on bureaucratic processes thanks to a decision to reduce the time students spend taking tests based on the Common Core standards.

Public Education Secretary Hannah Skandera and members of the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for Colleges and Career, or PARCC, governing board voted this week to reduce the testing time by about 90 minutes. They also decided to narrow the testing window to once a year.

The changes were driven by feedback from teachers and school leaders who had complained that the testing requirements were taking away from classroom instruction and putting undue pressure on teachers and students.

"These changes are great news. I think it will have an impact," Skandera said.

Skandera announced the changes in a letter sent Thursday to dozens of school superintendents around the state. Some have answered back, saying they were appreciative that their voices were heard and that it will make a difference next year.

Hundreds of high school students in Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Las Cruces and elsewhere walked out of schools and protested in early March when testing first began. There were similar walkouts in other states that participate in the PARCC consortium.

Ellen Bernstein, head of Albuquerque's largest teacher union, said the changes will help address concerns about the classroom time that's eaten away by the tests. However, she said changes will still have to be made to fix poorly worded questions and technological glitches.

"To have high stakes on a test that had so many problems is of grave concern to teachers and parents," she said. "Less time on bad tests would be good. But making the test better would be better."

More can be done to ensure the tests adequately measure students' critical thinking and problem-solving skills, Bernstein said. Reports from teachers to union leadership have suggested the tests are nothing more than computer versions of past fill-in-the-bubble tests.

Skandera argued that testing in New Mexico this first year was successful and that the state had the highest percentage of students online for the process out of the 11 states that participated.

New Mexico has invested about $10 million during the last two years to boost technology and infrastructure within public schools. Each district has connectivity, and on average there are three students to every school computer.

That's better than the national average, but Skandera said the department is pushing to improve online speeds and volume.

"Our state has never had this kind of connectivity available for our students. This is amazing," she said. "So it's not just about an assessment. This is about a state that has transitioned to more equal access and opportunity for every student across the spectrum."

In Hobbs, Superintendent T.J. Parks welcomed news of the reduced testing time, but he said high schools in his district plan to spend $1 million to buy more computers so future testing won't cause as much disruption to those classes that depend on computer labs. He said some curriculums were put on hold for 21 days this spring because of PARCC testing.

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