JCPS stops requiring diagnostic tests

Responding to concerns about over-testing of students, Jefferson County Public Schools has announced it is not requiring teachers to give students diagnostic tests for the rest of the year.

The move means significantly fewer mandated tests for students in first grade through high school. For instance, a third grader could be subjected to eight fewer diagnostic tests through the end of the year, JCPS said.

Diagnostic tests are basically pre-tests at the beginning of each unit to use as a starting point for students' knowledge, JCPS said. Other district-mandated tests, including proficiency exams, are still required, as are any state-mandated standardized tests.

JCPS has required the diagnostic tests for several years, said Dena Dossett, JCPS' chief of data management, although she said there was some flexibility on whether teachers used the district's test or created their own diagnostic assessment.

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JCPS said the decision to no longer mandate the diagnostic tests aligns with the district's new vision statement and strategic plan, which calls in part for the state's largest school district to "reduce, revise and refine" its assessments and also reduce reliance on standardized multiple-choice tests.

"This will move us in the direction of less testing and more time to teach, which is exactly what Vision 2020 is all about," Superintendent Donna Hargens told The Courier-Journal.

Board member Steph Horne, who has pushed for fewer tests, said she was happy to see the district make diagnostic testing optional. "This puts the decision-making at the school level. I think decisions are made closer to the child are best."

Brent McKim, president of the county's  teachers union, agreed that the move was "good news for schools and students," saying the union has been advocating for some time about cutting back on the time spent on testing in order to provide more learning time for students.

But McKim said he was disappointed that JCPS had not discussed the decision more with stakeholders first.

"Once again, no one at JCPS even discussed this with us," McKim said. "While this may be a positive direction, it is disappointing that yet another decision was made in such a top-down fashion."

Board chairman David Jones Jr. said he was surprised that the teachers union would be surprised by the move, noting that the board approved the idea at a meeting as part of a vote on JCPS' Comprehensive District Improvement Plan.

He also said the idea of reducing tests was discussed at length in working groups and meetings leading up to the formulation of Vision 2020, saying that the teachers union was a critical part of those discussions.

"It’s important schools have the opportunity to free up time from tests they find non-helpful to focus on things that are more individually relevant to the students they serve," Jones said.

A JCPS spokeswoman said the district will later review whether it wants to continue making the diagnostic tests optional in future school years.

Bob Schaeffer, spokesman for FairTest: National Center for Fair & Open Testing, said JCPS is joining many other school districts and states around the country who are making the conscious decision to limit the number of mandated tests that students must take.

He pointed to a study by the Council of Great City Schools that found that the average student in a big city public school will take about 112 mandated standardized tests in their school careers, with the average of roughly eight standardized tests per year consuming between 20 and 25 hours each school year.

"States are responding to the message from education stakeholders that enough is enough," Schaeffer said.

He said he thinks that most of the mandated diagnostic tests have no educational value, saying that teachers generally know how each student is doing from observing their work.

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"There are chapter tests, book reports, final exams," Schaeffer said. "Teachers are already assessing their students."

Hargens earlier this week testified before the House Education Committee in favor of House Bill 92, which would allow Districts of Innovation - of which JCPS is one - to have more flexibility with testing and use more locally developed tests.

Tiffany Dunn, a teacher at Lassiter Middle and an opponent of over-testing, said she hasn't given a district diagnostic test in a while, preferring instead to create her own. She said she's kept hers short and appropriate for her English as a Second Language students.

Dunn said she wished the district and state would give even more flexibility on assessing students.

"We're professionals," she said. "We should give our own diagnostics and our own proficiencies. ... Why can't teachers create what's best for their students?"

Reporter Allison Ross can be reached at 502-582-4241. Follow the Courier-Journal's education team at Facebook.com/SchooledCJ.