Education board to weigh call to reduce student testing

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Indiana should shorten the amount of time students spend on standardized tests and eliminate exams that go beyond the legal requirements, one member of the State Board of Education said Wednesday.

The proposed resolution by board member Sarah O'Brien follows heightened concern regarding testing times, which recently doubled to about 12 hours.

Indiana had revised its ISTEP+ exam to align with new state academic standards. The state Department of Education says it had hoped to use this year as a transition, but the U.S. Department of Education ordered a fully operational test this year. That led to an exam that also included pilot questions for future years, contributing to the increased testing time.

Gov. Mike Pence called the 12-hour test unacceptable and hired two consultants to work with the Department of Education and lawmakers to shorten this year's exam. They ultimately shaved off about three hours.

"I share the concern of teachers and parents about the amount of testing being forced on our children, especially following the surprise doubling of the ISTEP+ test this year," O'Brien, a first-grade teacher, said in a statement.

Her proposal, which will be considered at the board's April 1 meeting, says the state should reuse previous test items that align with current standards to minimize the number of questions asked of students. It would also reduce the cost of developing future tests.

O'Brien is also pushing to bar the state from finalizing nearly $134 million in contracts for testing programs through 2017. The state announced its recommendations for those contracts last week.

State schools Superintendent Glenda Ritz has called those costs "astronomical" and said she favors streamlining testing.

The contracts could hinge on the outcome of a bill moving through the Legislature that would move Indiana from the ISTEP+ exam to a national test called BEST after June 30, 2016.

One of the bill's sponsors, Senate Appropriations Chairman Luke Kenley, has said he thinks Indiana would be better off using an "off-the-shelf" set of tests.