Test Freedom Day!

[Bob Schaeffer <bobschaeffer@earthlink.net>]

YIPPEE, IT'S TEST FREEDOM DAY!
St. Paul (MN) Pioneer Press -- April 23, 2008
by John Fitzgerald

Forget about Tax Freedom Day, the day when we are supposedly done paying 
taxes for the year. April brings another, more significant day, when we 
celebrate the sloughing off of onerous, heavy-handed government mandates 
and regulations.

It is Test Freedom Day.

This week, Minnesota students will put their pencils down on the 
unofficial end of the school test-taking season. The MCA-II, NEAP, GRAD, 
MTAS, TEAE, MN SOLOM, PSAT, SAT and ACT tests, among others, will come 
to a close.

Tax Freedom Day is publicized by a Washington research organization. It 
offers a theoretical date on which the average American's tax bill is paid.

Like Tax Freedom Day, Test Freedom Day is an approximation because there 
are a few tests left to take: the MCA-II's new science test (online!) is 
a week or so away, and there are still dates open to take college 
entrance exams. But for the most part, students are finished taking 
standardized tests.

Sound squishy? Like Tax Freedom Day, it is. It's a made-up publicity 
stunt, but it highlights two real problems:

Research shows that students miss the equivalent of six days during the 
school year to take standardized tests. State educators say that number 
is a bit high, but there's no doubt that students miss educational time 
to take these tests.

<> The MCA-II tests are used to judge schools under the No Child Left 
Behind Act. NCLB is a thing of beauty in its simplicity — every student 
takes a test, and if enough pass, the school wins. If not enough pass, 
the school loses. Winners get federal funding for the poor, losers don't.

Shedding light on the achievement gap is a good goal. Unfortunately, 
NCLB has spun off into realms of inaccuracies and Big Brother-like, 
bureaucracy-driven disinformation.

<>NCLB is flawed and its single-test format doesn't produce an accurate 
snapshot of student achievement.

That's why we celebrate Test Freedom Day. It is the day we break the 
chains of testing tyranny. Students can now study in peace without 
having to face a bubble-form, No.-2- lead-pencil nightmare

Here's a short look at Minnesota's standardized tests:

- Minnesota Test of Academic Skills (MTAS), an alternate reading, math 
and science assessment for special education students.

- Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT), taken by high school 
sophomores and juniors. Although not required by the state, it is a 
highly popular test. PSAT results are used to determine eligibility for 
the National Merit Scholarship Program.

- National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), which tests the 
math and reading skills of a sample of students in fourth and eighth 
grades every odd-numbered year and other subjects every even-numbered 
year. In 2008, eighth graders were tested on art, while long-term 
studies in reading and mathematics continued for students ages 9, 13 and 
17.

- Test of Emerging Academic English and Student Oral Language 
Observation Matrix (TEAE), a test of reading and writing language 
proficiency for English language learners. SOLOM is a test of listening 
and speaking language proficiency for English language learners

- Basic Skills Tests (BST) in reading, mathematics and writing are 
required for graduation. They are being replaced by GRAD. The 10th 
graders in 2006-07 are the last cohort required to pass the three BSTs.

- Mathematics Test for English Language Learners (MTELL), an online test 
of mathematics for English language learners.

- Graduation-Required Assessments for Diploma (GRAD), which tests high 
school reading, mathematics and writing. Students must pass GRAD to 
graduate from high school. Ninth graders take the GRAD Written 
Composition. Tenth graders take the Reading MCA-II/GRAD.

- Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments-Series II (MCA-II), the 
standardized test required by the No Child Left Behind Act. Tests are 
given to all students in grades 3 through 8. Tenth graders take the 
Reading MCA-II/GRAD. Eleventh graders take the Mathematics MCA-II. 
Grades five, eight and high school life science students take the 
Science MCA-II.

- Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), a college entrance exam taken by high 
school sophomores and juniors. Although not required by the state, it is 
a highly popular test

- American College Testing Program (ACT), a college entrance exam taken 
by high school sophomores and juniors. Although not required by the 
state, it is a highly popular test.

Tax Freedom Day is a publicity stunt, a MacGuffin that has legs only on 
shrill radio call-in talk shows

Test Freedom Day is no different. Today, let's publicize the day when 
big government gets off our backs and we can go about the business of 
getting an education.
#

John Fitzgerald is a fellow at Minnesota 2020, a progressive public 
policy think tank in St. Paul. His e-mail address is 
john.fitzgerald@mn2020.org.

#


http://www.twincities.com/opinion/ci_9030020