Crisco: Senate makes change regarding future of 11th grade testing

HARTFORD - The state Senate approved a bipartisan plan today to unburden high school juniors from controversial standardized testing. 

The proposal would end the requirement that 11^th-grade students participate in the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) testing. Instead, students would be able to take a nationally recognized college readiness exam. 

“High school students are practically under siege from testing,” said state Sen. Joseph J. Crisco, Jr. D-Woodbridge. 

State Sen. Joseph J. Crisco

“This bill will help us to relieve some of the pressure our students are facing and allow them to focus on their classes. Standardized testing must have a benefit for our students. This bill will help make sure that is the case moving forward.”

“This is a common sense proposal that will open doors of opportunity for Connecticut’s students,” said Senate President Martin M. Looney, D-New Haven. “At the same time, we can ease the burden of test-preparation and test-taking on students and teachers alike. I want to thank Sen. Slossberg, Rep. Fleischmann, and the ranking members of the Education Committee for their work on this proposal.”

“By providing a state sponsored, nationally recognized college readiness test in place of the SBAC, we are opening the door to college for students, relieving the stress of over-testing, restoring instruction time to the classroom, and providing a financial benefit to families and towns alike. This is a win for everyone,” said state Sen. Gayle S. Slossberg, D-Milford, Senate Chair of the Education Committee.

SBAC is a Common Core Standards-aligned set of tests that Connecticut administers to students from third grade through eighth grade, and once in high school. Although they are designed as untimed tests, the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium estimates that 11^th-graders will spend a total of eight and one half hours taking English language arts and mathematics assessments.

Legislators have heard objections from principals, teachers, parents, and students regarding the SBAC tests. The most strenuous opposition has focused on the onerous testing burden placed on high school juniors. 

In addition to the SBAC test, many juniors also take the SAT, Advanced Placement Exams, and class finals all within a window of just over a month. 

A survey of more than 1,100 K-12 teachers in Connecticut taken between May 8-15 found that more than 90 percent of participating teachers felt “the time it took to complete the SBAC test caused student frustration and apathy,” and just under 90 percent agreed that SBAC test preparation “takes away significant time and resources from teaching and learning in my classroom.”

More than 97 percent of participating teachers did not agree that SBAC is a useful indicator of school effectiveness, and over 96 percent agreed with the statement, “I generally view the SBAC as an obstacle for my students to overcome”.

There have been vocal pockets of opposition to the test. In one Seattle high school, 100 percent of 11^th-graders opted out of the test in April. Closer to home, Greenwich High School 11^th-graders are facing what some students describe as a marathon, according to the Greenwich Time. 

Many juniors signed up to take the SATs May 2. This was followed by two weeks of Advanced Placement Exams. Some students took the SAT for a second time, and some for the first, on June 6. One week later, final exams took place between June 12 and June 18. 

Legislators noted the advantages of providing a state sponsored entrance exam, helping open the door to college for every student. Thirteen Connecticut school districts currently provide the SAT to students for free.

This is a press release from Crisco's office.