Dive Brief:
- On Tuesday, the Education Law Center filed suit against the New Jersey Department of Education, on behalf of a group of parents, over the state’s use of tests to determine whether students can graduate.
- The suit alleges that the state did not follow proper procedure when it implemented assessment-based graduation guidelines last year.
- The changes are supposed to go into effect for the coming year, and the suit objected to the lack of state board involvement or public comment.
Dive Insight:
Many states, including Ohio and New York, have used tests to determine whether students will be able to graduate. But some, including Georgia and New York, have moved away from the practice, using tests as part of a wider portfolio of student work that can include teacher feedback. According to FairTest, an organization that advocates for limited, high-quality testing, “Graduation tests do not promote the knowledge, skills and habits needed for success in college or skilled work,” since few align to career readiness skills or raise the value of a high school diploma.
In New Jersey, part of the objection seems to be the speed with which the change was implemented. Students who started high school under one system would now have to pass tests to graduate. One of the students involved in the case said she didn’t think it was fair to change the bar to graduate for students already in school.
"There has been so much confusion and controversy about New Jersey tests and standards over the past year that students and parents don't know what's going on,” Tanasia Brown, a high school senior, told NJ.com.