Nebraska's governor this month signed into law a bill requiring the state to begin administering statewide, uniform assessments to measure students' academic progress. Nebraska's current system (STARS-School-based, Teacher-led Assessment and Reporting System) allows each of the state's 500-plus districts to design its own local assessments; which can include a portfolio of teacher classroom assessments, district tests, a state writing test, and a nationally standardized test. (See Gadfly's earlier report on STARS here.) Last summer, the legislature approved adding statewide standardized tests in reading and math but many lawmakers were unhappy with the state education department's attempt to merge those tests with the local assessments.
Under the new legislation, schools may still retain local assessments as an additional lens through which to monitor academic progress but the local assessments won't be valid for state and federal accountability requirements. Supporters of the change say that teachers will no longer be burdened by the complex upward reporting required of STARS. Critics are concerned that statewide assessment will force schools to narrow the curriculum and focus only on those areas tested.
The strongest advocate of Nebraska's local assessments has been the state's education commissioner, Douglas D. Christensen, who said in Education Week of the move to statewide testing, "I see nothing positive in terms of good public policy or good education policy in state testing" (here). A few days before the legislation passed, Christensen announced his resignation effective this summer.
Another vocal supporter of STARS is George Wood, principal of Federal Hocking Middle and High School in Amesville, Ohio, and executive director of the Forum for Education and Democracy. Wood authored Governor Ted Strickland's K-12 education transition report. In it he suggested Ohio rethink "assessment tools so that they are more comprehensive and not as reliant upon a single test, high stakes, and standardized measures" (here). He said "the possibility for this work has been opened up by the U.S. Department of Education's approval of Nebraska's assessment system which does not rely on a single, statewide test."
In truth, however, Nebraska's STARS was never deemed compliant with federal accountability requirements (here).
Two factors appear key to Nebraska's decision to adopt statewide testing. First, a common, statewide assessment will increase accountability as school performance can be compared across the state. Second, and more important, uniform tests will help shed light on achievement gaps and underserved student populations as Nebraska's demographics change and educators work to raise lagging achievement of poor and minority students.
