Mapleton Community:
Your Mapleton School District is considering options pertaining to the administration of the Smarter Balanced Standardized Test in Spring 2022, and we would like your input. At the bottom of this document are three survey questions, and a link to submit your responses. In order for the responses to be considered at the next school board meeting, please respond by Monday, March 14th.
As the topic is complex, we are providing some history and context below.
Over the past two years, the District has taken actions, detailed below, to minimize the impact that testing has had on the District’s population. We are now considering taking action that will impact the scope of the upcoming Spring 2022 testing.
Smarter Balanced Standardized Assessments are administered at the following grade levels:
Math Assessment – 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 11th
Language Arts Assessment – 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 11th
Science Assessment – 5th, 8th, 11th
MSD 2020/2021 Smarter Balanced Testing Actions:
In the Spring of 2021, the Mapleton Board of Education passed the following resolution to support the opt-out option for Smarter Balanced Testing, :
“We, the Mapleton Board of Education, given our responsibility to safeguard and guide the education of Mapleton students, find that the administering of the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium tests (SBAC) at this time of pandemic to be inappropriate and harmful to students, their families and to the school community.
For the following reasons, we encourage parents to opt their children out of these tests:
1. The tests create mental stress for students at the exact time we’re trying to restore emotional health.
2. The tests will be meaningless:
· They can’t provide a legitimate comparison to last year or next year;
· They will not be administered in the controlled conditions that have been mandated in the past;
· It is highly unlikely that there will be a 95% participation rate for validity as required in the past;
· The tests won’t provide any meaningful data about equity or achievement gaps – the stated main reason for their use.
It is therefore the Board’s recommendation that Mapleton parents and guardians strongly consider exercising their right, under House Bill 2655, to opt out their student from the Smarter Balanced tests.”
Later in the year, the Board went one step further and voted to approve an opt-in policy, requiring families to file a request with the District to administer the Smarter Balanced test, if they wanted their child to be tested.
Oregon Department of Education Response to MSD’s 2020/2021 Actions:
The Oregon Department of Education has found the Mapleton School District to be in violation of the Division 22 Standard pertaining to state assessments, 581-022-2100: Administration of State Assessments, and is requiring the District to take corrective action, which would be satisfied by administering the tests this year.
In a February 7th letter to Superintendent O’Mara, ODE states, “ … continued non-compliance with the Division 22 rules may result in withholding of some or all state school funding. There may also be federal Title 1 administrative funding consequences.”
2022 Smarter Balanced Testing Considerations:
The Mapleton School Board continues to maintain that the Smarter Balanced standardized tests are a poor indicator of student achievement and, in fact, are stressful/harmful to most students,. We are not alone in this assessment. Many school districts across our state and the country are challenging this practice, as well.
Additionally, Superintendent O’Mara states, “There is always a loss of instructional time as staff prepare students to take the State Assessment. This year it could be significant, since we haven’t given State Assessments in two years.”
Mapleton School District is considering the following options:
- Offer the Smarter Balanced Testing as required by ODE, including test preparation efforts similar to those that have been in place for years prior to 2020. An opt-out option will continue to be available to all students.
- Offer the Smarter Balanced Testing as required by ODE. Emphasize opt-out options for students, and reduce or eliminate the all-students test preparation efforts. Support students who do elect to take the tests with small-group test prep.
- Do not offer the Smarter Balanced Testing to any students.
Before we proceed with any action, we want, need, and value input from YOU, our school community.
We have include two articles below to give context to the debate:
Anti-testing:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2021/02/01/need-to-know-about-standardized-testing/
Pro-testing:
SURVEY
Link: https://forms.gle/1LXhkpSGcJbkJ4AM6
Survey questions:
- Please indicate your role in our school community
Parent, Staff or Student
- Given the information provided above, do you believe the Mapleton School District should continue to offer Standardized Testing every year, with the option for parents to Opt-Out for their student(s)? YES / NO
- If you answered NO, please explain why?
- If you answered YES, please explain why?