PRINTER'S NO. 1671
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE RESOLUTION
No.
322
Session of
2018
INTRODUCED BY AUMENT, KILLION, RAFFERTY, YUDICHAK, VOGEL,
RESCHENTHALER, BAKER, BARTOLOTTA, WHITE, WARD, MARTIN AND
MENSCH, APRIL 18, 2018
REFERRED TO EDUCATION, APRIL 18, 2018
A RESOLUTION
Directing the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee to study
standardized tests in public education.
WHEREAS, Standardized tests have been used in the United
States since the early 1900s by schools, colleges and the
military to test student achievement as well as mental ability;
and
WHEREAS, In 2002, amid growing concerns about racial
education inequity and poor performance of United States
students on international measures of achievement, the President
of the United States signed the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001
into law which required states to test students in math and
reading every year from third to eighth grade and once between
tenth grade and graduation; and
WHEREAS, In 2009, a separate effort to create consistent
curriculum standards led to the creation of Common Core State
Standards, and under the Race To The Top grant program, states
were provided incentives to adopt Common Core standards and
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begin evaluating teachers and principals based on student
performance on assessments; and
WHEREAS, According to a 2015 study by the Council of Great
City Schools, the typical United States student takes 112
mandatory standardized exams between pre-Kindergarten and high
school graduation, roughly eight exams per year; and
WHEREAS, Standardized assessments in this Commonwealth have
been used to measure student growth and achievement, to comply
with Federal accountability, and are part of the State's teacher
evaluation system; and
WHEREAS, In recent years, debates have been waged over
whether there is an over-reliance on testing in schools at the
expense of a broader, well-rounded education, and this
perception of over-testing has led to successful opt-out
movements where parents are refusing to allow their children to
take standardized exams; and
WHEREAS, As Pennsylvania looks to make changes to
standardized testing, it is important for the General Assembly
to understand the amount of time spent on standardized testing
as well as how the results of those tests are used; therefore be
it
RESOLVED, That the Senate direct the Legislative Budget and
Finance Committee to study the following:
(1) the intended use of all State standardized tests
when they were originally created or authorized under Federal
or State law as compared to how they are used today;
(2) the valid and research-based uses of State
standardized tests as indicators of student achievement,
school building performance and educator effectiveness;
(3) the amount of time devoted to test-taking skills and
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practice test items for federally required tests;
(4) the amount of time devoted to test-taking skills and
practice test items for State required tests;
(5) the amount of time devoted to test-taking skills and
practice test items for locally elected tests;
(6) the source of State standardized tests (State-
specific, Smarter Balanced, Partnership for Assessment of
Readiness for College and Careers, Scholastic Aptitude Test
and American College Testing) used by all states for Federal
accountability and the states' rationale for each test's use
in a State plan, using plans submitted under the Every
Student Succeeds Act (Public Law 114-95, 129 Stat. 1802);
(7) a comparison between Pennsylvania and all other
states in the use of standardized tests in teacher
evaluations, including, but not limited to, current trends
and the research basis for the inclusion of standardized test
results in the evaluation systems;
(8) whether a realignment of State academic standards,
Pennsylvania's voluntary model curriculum and individual
public school entities' curriculum would be necessary if
Pennsylvania required each student to take the Scholastic
Aptitude Test instead of the Keystone Exams, along with
associated costs of new curricular materials, new benchmarks,
Statewide instructional supports, redesign of Statewide
instructional supports and staff realigning local curriculum
plans;
(9) whether Pennsylvania can obtain a continuous
longitudinal growth measure for public school entities and
teachers in math, science and English language arts based on
student performance on the Scholastic Aptitude Test compared
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to the value-added assessment system established under
section 221 of the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14),
known as the Public School Code of 1949;
(10) a comparison of universal design principles and
accommodations available to students with disabilities for
all State standardized tests and a determination of whether
the availability of instructional accommodations impact the
validity of the tests as a growth measure; and
(11) the impact on compliance with federally required
tests and accountability measures such as school building
performance and educator effectiveness if Pennsylvania
expanded the options to be excused from State assessments to
include objections on philosophical grounds or due to health
concerns for the child;
and be it further
RESOLVED, That, in conducting the study, the committee
consult with education stakeholders, classroom teachers in
public school entities and faculty at the State System of Higher
Education and State-related higher education institutions with
expertise in assessments and psychometrics; and be it further
RESOLVED, That the committee be prohibited from consulting
with entities who currently or have the potential to contract
with the Commonwealth in any manner related to this study or any
private entity that could financially benefit from a policy
change that could result from the findings of this study; and be
it further
RESOLVED, That the committee prepare and submit a written
report to the Senate within one year of the adoption of this
resolution.
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