Question 5: Gov. Phil Murphy has run into opposition to his plan to change standardized testing in New Jersey. What do you think he should do now?
John Quattrocchi: Standardized testing has been a contentious topic for many. It can cause undue stress for some students. It can also help identify where a student has particular strengths or weaknesses.
It is important to recognize that the PSAT, SAT, and ACT are all standardized tests. These are national standard tests and therefore colleges recognize the results universally across the nation.
However, tests in the lower grades have a few variants. This can make interpreting the results difficult or inconclusive. In addition, Trenton politicians seem determined to constantly change the nature of these tests, how they are scheduled and what content they test. That is incredibly wasteful and frustrating for us all. Worse, until a new test is honed we cannot reliably use the results for any meaningful benefit.
The purpose of the testing to measure the level that a student has mastered the required curriculum. It is the role of the school district to cover those curriculum requirements and that we go above and beyond those standards to give students opportunity to excel.
We study and interpret the results of tests to identify what we are doing well, where we need to focus attention, and what staff development we might consider. Critically important, we also use the results to help students identify the courses they should consider in VHS, given some of their strengths and weaknesses.
However, like many things, too much testing isn’t helpful. It can be too disruptive and reduce classroom lesson time. It is a heavy administrative task that diverts our district leadership from other topics that require their attention.
In the end, I believe that standardized testing is beneficial and useful to determine what to do better, what’s working, and what strengths a student has. Doing it to excess, however, is counterproductive. The Governor should weigh what the benefits are of yet another change vs the stress and uncertainty that will bring to schools and students across the state.
PARCC is 4 years old at this point. Results for the first two years were useless. Changing the test again may make nice headlines but unless the change is consistent and helpful it would simply divert us for political reasons at the expense of our students.
