NJ Spotlight published the following article on March 31, 2014. To read the full article, click here.
As Statewide Testing Looms, Lawmakers Start to Raise Questions
John Mooney | March 31, 2014Concerns being raised on both sides of aisle about who is being tested and how the results will be used
As New Jersey moves closer to a new generation of statewide testing, that progress is being paced by several bills looking to put some controls — or cautions — on the new exams.
State Assemblywoman Mila Jasey (D-Essex) was the latest to drop a package of new bills that would limit the use of the standardized tests as New Jersey transitions into the new online testing, known as PARCC.
Among them is a bill that would prohibit the use of commercially developed tests below third grade. Another would require districts to inform parents of exactly which standardized tests are being administered each year to their children.
A third bill would delay using the new tests, aimed for launch in 2015, as a factor in the state’s new teacher evaluation system.
If approved, the bills would face long odds from ever being signed by Gov. Chris Christie, but Jasey said this weekend that she wanted to prompt further discussion as much as make any specific changes to the state’s testing regimen.