Dive Brief:
- Both Kentucky and Florida are considering bills that might not make the grade on accountability under the new Every Student Succeeds Act.
- In Florida, Senate Bill 1360 calls for the ACT test to be used to test students in grades 3-8, starting in the 2016-17 school year, and would give districts three options, the ACT, PSAT or NMSQT, or SAT for high school testing; under ESSA one single test is supposed to be used statewide.
- Kentucky's proposal Senate Bill 1 has already passed, and critics say the way it redefines how low-performing schools are identified, graduation rates are used to calculate school performance, and what goes on school report cards might not meet federal standards.
Dive Insight:
Florida's proposal, still under consideration, might be a clearer affront to federal regulations. There's no uncertainty around the fact that districts statewide are mandated to use a single test to measure accountability, yet bill sponsor Sen. Don Gaetz, a Republican, seems to have ignored that requisite. The state's education commissioner Pam Stewart has expressed concerns over both the SAT and the ACT not aligning well with Common Core standards, as compared to Florida's previous statewide standardized test.
Although using the use SAT and/or ACT for accountability is now more popular than ever, districts considering using those tests should move with caution. Assessment experts have criticized the use of those tests, which are designed to measure college preparedness, for general performance evaluations. Tests are supposed to be used for the purpose for which they were designed; otherwise, results leave schools vulnerable to valid criticism over veracity.