Springfield Wants Anti-Testing Message To Spread In Oregon

The chair of the Springfield school board hopes his group's vote in opposition to standardized testing will spark broader change.

Oregon law allows parents to opt their children out of the mandatory tests, known as Smarter Balanced exams. In 2015, legislators approved a law expanding Oregon's rules to "opt-out" of standardized tests. Under previous law, students needed to claim an exemption based on religion or disability.

This week, Springfield board members voted unanimously to advise parents to seriously consider opting their children out of exams.

Springfield board chair Jonathan Light said he hopes that vote will allow teachers and administrators to talk more openly with parents about their options.

And Light would like more Oregon school boards to follow suit.

“I do hope that our action will give some courage — maybe to other boards around the state, or even beyond our state, to stand up for the students,” Light said.

The U.S. Department of Education is writing new rules to implement the Every Student Succeeds Act, which Congress passed a few months ago. State officials, including work groups in Oregon, are also working on how to implement the new law.

Some of the impetus for overhauling federal education law came from members of Congress who were concerned about the role of standardized tests.

The new federal law, however, maintained the requirement that schools and states test at least 95 percent of students through mandatory exams, such as the Smarter Balanced test administered in Oregon.

Twenty-one school districts in Oregon fell short of participation targets in 2015, and certain demographic groups fell short statewide. The federal Education Department warned Oregon that missing those targets could jeopardize federal funding.

Oregon passed along those warnings to school districts, saying more than $300 million in federal money may hang in the balance.

But all of that happened before Congress passed the Every Student Succeeds Act as the prevailing education law across the country. Officials in Oregon said they don't know what the sanctions might be. How the new federal law will work is somewhat up in the air, with federal and state officials across the country working on implementation rules.

It's in that context that Jonathan Light and the rest of the Springfield School Board voted to suggest opting out of state-required exams.

Light said the Springfield board vote was partly directed at officials who are writing new federal education rules.

"This is a prime opportunity with the new federal legislation," Light said. "When the Springfield School District was back in February talking to the Department of Education, they're really looking to the states for some guidance as far as the interpretation — which is a very hopeful sign, also."

Light is among many critics of the Smarter Balanced tests who say they take too much time, provide little help to teachers, and cost too much.

But the exams have their supporters, too.

Some teachers say they're better than Oregon’s previous exams because they're more challenging and push students to think critically and solve problems, rather than just click through multiple choice answers.