Nebraska Assessment System: A National Model

[Bob Schaeffer <bobschaeffer@earthlink.net>]

NEBRASKA'S STUDENT TESTS COULD BE MODEL FOR NATION
Omaha World-Herald -- September 22, 2006
by Michaela Saunders

Nebraska's homegrown student evaluation system could be a model for 
American schools, a national testing expert said Thursday.

Most states use standardized fill-in-the-bubble tests as they try to 
measure what children know and can do.

Monty Neill, executive director of the National Center for Fair and Open 
Testing or FairTest, said a drawback of those often high-stakes tests is 
that students "don't get that self-reflective awareness of themselves as 
learners."

In Nebraska, each school district develops its own tests that match its 
curriculum, in addition to using national tests to measure what students 
learn in reading, math and science.

That system is the focus of a conference that concludes today at the 
Hilton Omaha. The conference drew more than 300 participants from 
Nebraska and seven other states.

Neill challenged Nebraskans to make sure Congress knows about its method 
before the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act, which is to 
begin in 2007.

"You've got to go spread the word," he told the group. Nebraska's 
educators need to say, "We are really doing some things differently in 
Nebraska, and they're working."

FairTest, based in Cambridge, Mass., is a nonprofit organization that 
advocates against the "misuses and flaws of standardized testing." Neill 
said high-stakes exams tied to high school graduation or passing a grade 
are examples of the misuse of testing.

Known as STARS, Nebraska's school-based, teacher-led assessment and 
reporting system has already been a source of national debate. This 
summer, federal education officials said Nebraska's system did not meet 
the requirements of No Child Left Behind.

But last week STARS received "initial approval" from federal officials. 
The state now must complete peer reviews of local tests and work to 
improve testing of students learning English.

Neill said approval is a good sign. And changes to the federal education 
law, when it is reauthorized, would allow other states to change their 
systems.

State Education Commissioner Doug Christensen said he believes it is 
just a matter of time before other states begin a shift toward a 
Nebraska-style evaluation system.

"They're starting to reach the ceiling," he said of flattening test 
scores in many states. "There's no where else to go with that methodology."