8 The Transcript
June 26, 2014
TESTING TESTS
New state standardized tests cause concerns in Jeffco By Amy Woodward and Crystal Anderson
awoodward@colorado communitymedia.com and canderson@colorado communitymedia.com New approaches to standardized testing in Colorado have ample support, but the implementation and volume of the new system raise concerns among some parents and teachers throughout Jefferson County. This academic year, Colorado educators have been instructed to use two new state assessments to measure students abilities in language arts, mathematics, social studies and science. The Partnerships for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, or PARCC assessment, in conjunction with the Colorado Measures of Academic Success assessment are now administered annually, replacing the former Transitional Colorado Assessment Program tests. “When we started getting the actual requirements for the PARCC … and realized what it had done with the school year is when we became very alarmed and felt like it was most likely an unintended consequence of a well-intentioned program,” said Phil Romig, parent and co-chair of the Manning Partnership Committee at Manning Middle School in Golden. “For all practical purposes that means that as a result of these tests, education stops end of March for the year.” In Jefferson County, students will test around 10 to 20 hours for the PARCC assessment alone, varying in number based on school, age and levels. Testing will begin March 9 and conclude May 22. For middle
schools like Manning, it will take their students an estimated 28 hours to complete the PARCC assessment over 47 days. In 2010, the Colorado legislature voted to change the state’s academic standards, requiring schools to implement new standards, or Common Core, and participate in a new form of standardized testing. “Our learning standards were almost 20 years old,” said Amy Skinner, communications director for the CDE. “It was more than time to improve those standards.” Those updated standards have been viewed as potentially new burdens by some educators though. In a given school year, Jeffco students will additionally be expected to take a separate state assessment, named Acuity, which measures student progress and preparation for CMAS. “If we have the students complete all three Acuity (tests), then seventh-grade students will lose a total of 660 minutes, or 11 hours of instruction and eighth-grade students will lose 770 minutes, or 12.8 hours of instructional time,” Manning Principal Barbara Goings-Bares said. That could leave Jeffco eighth-graders spending more than 40 hours of the school year testing, instead of learning. Unlike past assessments, PARCC will be given completely online, which means schools will have to work with their given resources as they shuffle around instruction time and schedules to accommodate each student. Manning has a total of 60 computers and more than 400 students, for them, the assessments will be given in two blocks with 120 students split into groups of 60 to take one test per day as mandated by the state. The Manning Partnership Committee plans on sending a letter to Gov. Hickenlooper requesting that he ask the Colorado
HAVE AN EVENT? To submit a calendar listing, send information by noon Friday to calendar@coloradocommunitymedia.com.
ONLINE UNRESERVED AUCTION • BigIron.com
Wednesday, July 9, 2014 • 410 LOTS SELLING!
First Lots Scheduled to Close at 10:00 AM Central Time NO BUYERS PREMIUM FEE & NO RESERVES!!
Golden Road Auto, Michael Moore, 720-210-7354, Golden, CO 80401: '04 Freightliner Columbia 120 Truck Tractor. Michael Klaseen, 970-749-8548, Big Iron Sales Representative. Barbara Dodge, Derril Ackley, 719-529-1152, Rye, CO 81069: JD 3010 LP Tractor; Case D Tractor; Servis 900 Tractor
Blade; Hammermill Grinder; Steel Boomers; Air Compressors; Post Hole Digger; K181R Kohler Engine; Onan Propane Generator; Propane Gas Heaters; Drill Press; Water Softener System; 27' Windmill Tower; WX 201 Water Pressure Tank; Metal Livestock Feeders; Fencing Items; Water & Fuel Tanks; Bale Spear; Steel Hay Feeder Trough; Concrete & Metal Feed Bunks; Livestock Equipment; 6' Tractor Bucket; Misc. Power & Hand Tools.
Jennifer Reno, 719-994-0984, Big Iron Sales Representative. The next BigIron.com Auction is on July 16, 2014
Sell your equipment on BigIron.com Call Today! 1-800-937-3558
Department of Education to review PARCC. Romig stated he would like the citizens of Jefferson County to do the same. “I would like the CDE to sit down with PARCC and discuss the concerns and the problems and have an honest and open discussion as to whether PARCC can be fixed to work, or if there are perfectly legitimately reasons as to why it has to be this way,” Romig said. During the 2013 legislative session, the CDE was required to join one of two assessment consortiums, ultimately choosing PARCC. According to the CDE Communications Director, Amy Skinner, teachers, assessment contractors and Colorado educators began to work together to create the PARCC test, but the time students test in a year varies by district. Currently, the CDE contracted WestEd, a California-based educational nonprofit, to perform a study regarding the amount of time students in the state spend testing, and the efficacy of the tests. According to Skinner, this study will help the CDE gain input and data to help decide if future legislative actions need to be made moving forward. In April of this year, Paul Lundeen, chair of the state board of education said he would ask his colleagues to vote on a resolution requesting legislators repeal the statute instituting PARCC. It was later killed in committee as it would interrupt the testing programs already implemented across the state. “Well I find it interesting with the state board of education, they’re the ones who have really led in this, and to a large degree have lead in this area of accountability and testing and they have previously voted to be part of the consortium and to implement PARCC,” said Colorado Sen. Andy Kerr, DLakewood. “I just find it interesting when the political winds shift a little bit that all of a sud-
Drivers Continued from Page 7
kids.” Buck said the justice system is also hamstrung because both DUI charges and driving without a valid license are misdemeanors. “I think the most important thing from a story like this is that there are people that flagrantly abuse our laws and we need a stiff remedy for these people — a harsher sanction against them,” he said. The legislature turned down a proposed bill earlier this year to make a third DUI a felony, a reform that Buck and Lanzer said would help combat
Budget Continued from Page 1
sizes was unknown. Among the charter school equalization and teacher compensation, the
den they changed 180 degrees.” Kerr supported PARCC but said legislators were not presented with a testing schedule at the time of their vote. “I do think the authority we’ve given the state board of education that they overstepped it and created too much testing out there,” he said. “What we need to do is we need to listen to our teachers, we need to listen to our parents, we need to listen to the educational professionals and how the accountability system that we put out there is impacting our kids in the classroom right now.” After hearing from her constituents, Jeffco Board of Education member, Lesley Dahlkemper, said the new assessments need to align with standards, but the district needs to be conscious about those concerns. “As a board we have to listen to what our community is saying and then we need to take a hard look at if we’re balanced in our approach to assessments, because there is an important role for assessments,” Dahlkemper said. “I will tell you as a mom of a fifthgrader I want to know how my daughter is doing in writing and reading and math and I don’t want any surprises when she gets to high school and graduates.” The impact on students is exactly what Arvada-area parent Shawna Fritzler and her daughter, Morgan, a gifted and talented student, are concerned with. “The state test doesn’t tell me about my individual child, it’s a snapshot of some data points,” Fritzler said. “You don’t need that much data on our kids or test scores, and that really shouldn’t be where the focus is. Giving the teachers the tools in the classrooms to really move those students; they need instructional time with their students. It’s a huge disservice when you take that much time away from kids.”
the problem. Lanzer said officials hope a new state law passed last year that went into effect in January will cut down on DUI driving, especially for motorists who lost their licenses for a prior drinking and driving offense. The law allows first-time offenders to regain their licenses after 30 days if they use an ignition interlock device to prevent them from starting their cars if they have been drinking. Previously, DUI offenders had to wait a year without a license before they could use the device. “We know people continue to drive anyway, so we prefer them to drive with an ignition interlock in their car,” Lanzer said. The analysis also showed the percentage of DUIs given to motorists
with no valid license varied by jurisdiction. Among large jurisdictions, 36 percent of DUIs issued by Pueblo, 34 percent by the Adams County sheriff, and 32 percent by Greeley police went to drivers without licenses. The lowest rates were 13 percent by Boulder police, 14 percent by the Boulder County sheriff, 15 percent by Durango police and 17 percent by Fort Collins police.
board also placed around $3.8 million towards primary math and literacy goals. “I’m delighted that through this year we’ve been able to direct funding towards early literacy, early math, equalization of funding for every student of public schools in Jeffco and
I’m delighted with the budget outcome,” Board president Ken Witt said. “It takes a lot of work, it takes impassioned people focusing on what they believe the priorities ought to be and coming together and eventually arriving at the right answers and the right conclusions.”
Colorado Community Media brings you this report in partnership with Rocky Mountain PBS I-News. Learn more at rmpbs.org/news. Contact Burt Hubbard at bhubbard@inewsnetwork.org. 9News reporter Whitney Wild contributed to this report.