Delaware School District Proposes Changing Statewide Testing System
January 7, 2020
While the federal “Every Student Succeeds Act requires testing in every grade between 3-8 and once in high school,” one school district in Delaware—the Brandywine School District—believes the state’s “Smarter Balanced test is not the correct assessment for students.” Brandywine School Board President Ralph Ackerman believes too much time is spent preparing for this test, producing “anxiety for both students and staff,” and that “a well-designed test can measure student achievement in an hour or two.” Through a spokesperson, the Department of Education agrees—although, not with a suggestion that testing revert to the state’s previous practice of testing “specific grades such as 3rd, 5th, 8th and 10th grades instead of every grade each year.”