Oklahoma is scrapping traditional end-of-year standardized testing for students in third through eighth grade starting this school year.
Instead of a single high-stakes test at the end of the year, local school districts will now implement state-approved benchmark assessments throughout the academic year.
In a press release State Superintendent Ryan Walters described the change as part of a “transformative shift” in education. Walters framed the policy change as a win for families and a departure from what he called a “teachers' union led” system.
However, some educators took issue with that framing.
“We have been fighting against the state testing since its inception, like, bro, crack a book,” said Tulsa Classroom Teachers Association President Shawna Mott-Wright. “I have T-shirts that say, ‘A child is more than a test score,’ so I want to say to him, thank you.”
While Mott-Wright supports the decision to end standardized testing, she criticized the timing of the rollout by Walters
“We already have schools who have started school. We already have kids in classrooms. School has started in many places,” she said.
She also questioned why parents received information about the change before local school districts and raised concerns about the $9 million currently budgeted for testing.
