The York County School Division is tasking its teachers with developing replacement assessments for five discontinued state standardized tests.
With new state regulations taking effect this year, the school division is allowing teachers to use a variety of methods to assess the content areas formerly covered by the Standards of Learning state examinations.
The General Assembly voted in March to eliminate five SOL tests for Virginia public school students beginning with the 2014-15 school year: Grade 3 history, Grade 3 science, Grade 5 writing, U.S. History to 1865, and U.S. History: 1865 to the present.
In September, the Virginia Department of Education issued a set of guidelines for school divisions in the state to develop alternative assessments for the discontinued SOLs. The state requires school divisions to develop plans for assessing each of the five content areas and demonstrate how the alternative assessments enhance the material.
The YCSD School Board reviewed the division’s plan for alternative assessments at its work session Monday night. For the 2014-15 school year, teachers will develop their own testing methods to fulfill the state-required assessments, including the traditional pen-and-paper exam, a performance assessment or a project.
Schools divisions in the state will be required to certify annually they have provided instruction in the five content areas and administered an assessment.
YCSD Chief Academic Officer Stephanie Guy said teachers would have a wide latitude to develop their own assessments, which could be unique to each classroom.
Each school in the division will keep track of the kinds of assessments given for the discontinued SOLs and review the collected data at the end of the school year.
After this school year, Guy said the school division would establish a committee to determine a future course of action for the alternative assessments. That committee will consist of two teacher representatives from each of the former SOL content areas, two building administrators and central office staff. Guy said she expected the committee could be named by the end of the month.
After Guy’s presentation, Board member Cindy Kirschke expressed reservations about the 2014-15 portion of the administration’s assessment plan.
“A red flag just comes up,” she said. “This worries me a little bit, that it’s going to vary too much from classroom to classroom. … If one teacher is giving an essay and another is giving a multiple choice [test], how do you make sure the students are learning the material?”
Board member Barbara Haywood also said she had doubts about the plan, specifically its lack of “continuity” between classes, grade levels and buildings.
Guy said the combination of assessments were only scheduled to be in place for the current year, and the committee would review best practices and results to direct future assessments.
“The state isn’t expecting perfection,” she said.
School Board Chairman Mark Medford said he understood Kirschke and Haywood’s reservations but emphasized the plan would be subject to change.
“It’s good they got rid of those SOLs, but Year 2 is the one where people will really reflect on things that were done, the hiccups,” Medford said. “Cindy’s concerns will hopefully be washed out by Year 2.”
Williamsburg-James City County Schools also formed a committee to study alternative assessments for the 2014-15 school year. Betsy Overkamp-Smith, WJCC’s director of public relations and engagement, said the committee has met but has not yet finalized a plan.
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