Schools Superintendent Joy Hofmeister
Writing in the Tulsa World
When parents, school leaders and educators across the state gather at the State Capitol on Monday to rally for education, the teacher shortage and over-testing are certain to be front and center topics.
(Hofmeister and members of the Board of Education are at odds: http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/education/conflict-between-board-of-education-members-superintendent-joy-hofmeister-erupts/article_621744c9-0bec-5a43-92f7-c975d3b6cb4e.html#.VRUjnR_mNAY.twitter )
While I share these frustrations, I also believe a brighter future is ahead. I commend Gov. Mary Fallin and state legislators for advances they have made in recent years on behalf of Oklahoma schools, and now it’s time to take that additional step.
Since taking office in January, as state superintendent of public instruction, I have been determined to eliminate over-testing. A tremendous step toward that goal can be achieved with legislation that replaces seven end-of-instruction exams — EOIs — with a test that matters for Oklahoma students beyond satisfying a state or federal mandate. Senate Bill 707 by Senate Education Committee chairman John Ford is a common-sense remedy.
Under the Achieving Classroom Excellence law, students must take seven EOI exams as part of high school graduation requirements. SB 707 could potentially reduce that number to one suite of assessments.
Instead of requiring EOIs that neither colleges nor career technology centers use for admissions, just imagine if Oklahoma required the ACT, which actually measures college- and career-readiness.
Currently, our teachers are forced to spend countless hours preparing students for EOI assessments that have no shelf life outside of high school. Let’s consider a state testing system in which our graduates are held accountable to tests actually used by colleges and CareerTech institutions.
Oklahoma is already officially designated an ACT state by the State Regents for Higher Education. In fact, 75 percent of our students already take the ACT. Let’s pave the way to allow all high school students to take it instead of spending millions of dollars on EOI tests that give students “permission to forget” because tests are spaced out over the course of years.
Replacing EOIs with the ACT would require sustained mastery of content with ACT’s 55-year-old, research-proven measurement for college- and career-readiness.
EOIs cost Oklahomans $7 million a year, while the ACT could meet both state and federal testing requirements for only $2.5 million annually. As part of a multiple measure approach, a sliding grade point average could be used along with the four content subject tests of ACT.
Money budgeted for EOI test-prep and test remediation could be targeted toward ACT instead. In addition, students would benefit individually as scholarship opportunities increase with rising ACT scores. Also, the WorkKeys test is part of the ACT family and already used by CareerTech centers.
Perhaps most importantly, using the ACT suite of assessments allows parents and schools to begin building a plan to improve the trajectory for weaker students long before graduation.
ACT is comparable across states, and cut scores can’t be manipulated to satisfy political considerations. ACT adds value for students.
In a year with a $611 million budget gap, we cannot afford to experiment or spend dollars on tests just to satisfy old mandates. Replacing EOIs with the ACT is the right move for our children and for our state, and SB 707 is a step in that direction.
Joy Hofmeister is Oklahoma superintendent of public instruction.
