By Charles Sampson
New Jersey is in the process of implementing new science assessments to align to the New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Science.
According to the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), these assessments are designed to meet the federal requirement that states must continue annual statewide tests in reading/language arts and mathematics to all students in grades 3-8 and once in high school as well as in science at least once in each of grades 3-5, 6-9 and 10-12.
Let me be clear: standardized assessments have a place in public education. They can help to identify specific attributes of student learning, highlight disparities in achievement, be effective gauges of content and skill mastery and inform curricular and programmatic decisions.
Sadly, here in New Jersey, we have veered sharply from standardized assessments simply having a place to occupying too much space.
Our testing requirements under the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) extend far beyond federal requirements.
With the introduction this year of the New Jersey Student Learning Assessment-Science (NJSLA-S) we have jumped the proverbial shark. With the NJSLA-S, a junior in a New Jersey public high school will sit for approximately 13 hours of testing between mid-April and mid-June.
That does not include Advanced Placement exams or college admissions exams (e.g., SAT, ACT) which are also commonly taken in the junior year. In fact, current juniors who have already taken the New Jersey Biology Competency Test as ninth-graders will now take a four-hour field test in the sciences even though they have already taken the federally required assessment.
The NJSLA-S will have teeth; in fact, it will be comprehensive and there are plans to include it as a graduation assessment requirement. Students who follow interests or passions in the sciences and not prescribed course sequences may be at a disadvantage in meeting assessment benchmarks. These consequences will be compounded by the reverberations of PARCC.
If current requirements hold, additional gates barring graduation will be raised, hundreds of students may be required to take a “refresher” course based on standardized assessment performance, equity issues for poor students will become more pronounced and test preparation far worse than what we experienced under No Child Left Behind will be the answer.
Sound frightening? It should. As a superintendent, I am gravely concerned. As a parent, I am outraged.
We need to stop adding to our standardized assessment load and give back time and energy to teaching and learning. We have a responsibility to speak up for the children we serve, for our own children and for children who have no one to speak for them. I want to see New Jersey lead the nation in educational experiences for children, not seat time for standardized assessments.
Charles Sampson is the superintendent of schools in the Freehold Regional High School District, which enrolls students from Colts Neck, Englishtown, Farmingdale, Freehold Borough, Freehold Township, Howell, Manalapan and Marlboro in six high schools.
