County students to see new testing in years to come
Published 7:12 pm Tuesday, September 3, 2013
Alabama students are looking at a different way of testing in the years ahead as the No Child Left Behind initiative is dissolved, making way for the Plan 20/20 initiative of instruction.
Although testing was done last spring under the old Annual Yearly Progress standards, future tests will be conducted following new guidelines, officials say.
“The new testing will give us information that will help us better prepare students and close some achievement gaps we have seen,” said Randall Little, superintendent of the Escambia County Schools. “Under the AYP, testing results gave us an all-or-nothing grade. Using this new method, we can better see progress and work on closing those individual student achievement gaps and track the individual progress of a student in math, science and reading. Once everything is in place by closing those gaps, our students will be either college, career or military-ready.”
Little said the scores released by state officials show good progress in student learning, but also showed some shortcomings as well.
“Overall, our scores were good using the ARMT-Plus (Alabama Reading and Mathematics Test) testing,” Little said. “We are doing well in all grade levels, but we do have some improvements we need to do in seventh- and eighth-grade math. I was pleased with the scores with the exception in that one area.”
Little said future tests will be given using a new assessment system and could see a change in scores for the next year.
“We are completely switching over our accountability and assessment system,” Little said. “The new system will not fully be in place until 2016. That means this year will be a major benchmark as we switch from AYP to 20/20, based on the ACT assessment.”
Once the ACT assessment system is in place, students across the state will be tested using new methods based on the standards currently in transition at local schools.
Little said he is anxious to see the progress the new testing system will be able to provide to students and ways of teaching standards for the instructors.
