How Parents Feel About Assessments in a Pandemic

October 23, 2020 By Leave a Comment

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, the health and safety of students and educators remains at the forefront of every parent and family’s mind this school year. It’s hard to focus on anything else, but when it comes to education, these are not the only concerns.

The effects of the pandemic on our students are much further reaching than simply the way in which they are learning this school year. The pandemic has further illuminated and exacerbated education inequities across the nation.

Since the pandemic began, National PTA has been advocating for dedicated funding for public schools to address COVID-19 related needs, including resources to close the connectivity gap so all students can learn online, support for students with disabilities and low-income families, and access to school meal benefits for students.

Now that the new school year is underway, safety must still be the primary concern for students, educators and other school personnel, but we must also consider and address the potential effects of disrupted in-person and remote learning on our students’ academic progress.

National PTA recently partnered with Edge Research to conduct focus groups with parents across the country to hear their perspectives on their children’s educational experience during the pandemic. We heard loud and clear that parents want and need to know where their children’s starting point is this school year, acknowledging that students had different experiences with remote schooling last spring.

One way to do this is to use a diagnostic or benchmark tests at the beginning of the school year. A benchmark assessment can help teachers tailor instruction and help identify the supports students need from their school, teachers and family. The focus groups revealed that parents across the country are largely in support of diagnostic tests at the beginning of the school year to measure their children’s starting point.

Parents also understand the purpose of giving students an end-of-year test to show their progress and to know whether their child met grade-level expectations for the school year. They also feel that the end-of-year test does not have to be comparable to the test given in the fall. It is more about seeing the progress their child made and having valuable information they can use to better support their learning at home.

It is important than ever for parents and educators to have meaningful data on student learning. There are multiple measures—including benchmark tests, classroom-based tests, standardized assessments, report card grades and teacher observations—that, when combined, help give a clearer picture of where children are academically.

While the current situation is not one any of us predicted or desires to be in, we should take this opportunity to advocate for assessments that provide meaningful information to parents to help support their children’s learning at home, as well as help educators address learning gaps early on and tailor their instruction to students.

This means assessments must be informative and low stake and results must be provided in a timely manner and in ways that are easy to understand for parents.

We all know that this school year is unlike any other, however, it is still imperative that parents and families have access to meaningful data, information and transparency on their children’s academic progress.

What can you do to help understand where your child’s starting point is this year?  Here are some questions you can ask your child’s teacher and/or principal:

  • What diagnostic or benchmark test(s) are given to my child?
  • When and how will the results be provided to me?
  • How can I use these results to support my child’s learning?
  • How will you use these results to support my child’s learning?

All of us must work together to make sure we have the best, most accurate information to support our children’s learning and help them reach their full potential.

Author: Leslie Boggs, National PTA President.

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I’m Opting Out of Opt-Out

February 29, 2016 By 1 Comment

This blog post was originally published on the Huffington Post.

With the arrival of spring comes assessment season for students, families and educators across the country. When my girls were in grade school, I remember dedicating time to helping them be confident and ready to take state tests. I also remember some feelings of anxiety before the tests, but at the same time, the importance of the assessments in helping my children’s teachers and school better support their success through data-driven planning and decision-making.

During testing season last year, reports emerged that a large number of students were opted out of state assessments. While polls have indicated a majority of parents do not support the concept of opt-out, the movement has vocal supporters and it is expected that even more attention will be paid to student participation in assessments.

Understandably, many parents and educators have concerns about the over emphasis on testing and the impact it is having on teaching and learning. Speaking up and taking action is a critical step to improve the overall education system and ensure every child has the opportunity to reach his/her full potential. However, National PTA does not believe that full scale assessment opt-out is an effective strategy to address the frustration over testing or that opting-out helps to improve a given assessment instrument. Mass opt-out comes at a real cost to the goals of educational equity and individual student achievement while leaving the question of assessment quality unanswered.

The consequences of non-participation in state assessments can have detrimental impacts on students and schools. Non-participation can result in a loss of funding, diminished resources and decreased interventions for students. Such ramifications would impact minorities and students with special needs disparately, thereby widening the achievement gap.

For example, states like New York that did not meet the participation requirement last school year received a letter stating that funding–including for English language learners, students with disabilities and other students in need–could be at risk if they have less than 95% participation on exams this spring. Opting out also stalls innovation by inhibiting effective monitoring and improvement of programs, exams and instructional strategies, and could thwart transparency by providing incomplete data for states, districts and schools.

Recognizing the concerns parents and educators have about testing, and the importance of improving assessment systems, National PTA’s Board of Directors recently adopted a position statement on assessment. The statement acknowledges the importance of eliminating unnecessary and low-quality assessments while protecting the vital role that good assessments play in measuring student progress so parents and educators have the best information to support teaching and learning, improve outcomes and ensure equity for all children.

While some will solely focus on the statement’s opposition to opt-out policies, when read in its entirety, the statement provides a holistic approach to improving assessment systems. National PTA advocates for improved assessment systems by recommending that states and districts: (1) ensure appropriate development; (2) guarantee reliability and implementation of high quality assessments; (3) clearly articulate to parents the assessment and accountability system in place at their child’s school and (4) bring schools and families together to use the data to support student growth and learning.

National PTA strongly advocates for and continues to support increased inclusion of the parent voice in educational decision making at all levels. Parents and families must be at the table when policymakers are considering policies that affect students. National PTA believes in the power of parents making their voices heard and being a part of the solution through engagement. As vice president of advocacy for the association, I have witnessed the ability of families and schools to come together and make true, meaningful improvement through robust dialogue, deliberate investment and thoughtful consensus.

Now is the time for all of us to work together to ensure assessments are executed properly and provide valuable information to parents, teachers and school leaders about the growth and achievement of students as they are intended to do. We must be effective stewards of education for our nation’s children by improving assessment systems, not opting children out of the system that should be for their benefit.

 

Shannon Sevier is vice president of advocacy for National PTA, the nation’s oldest and largest child advocacy association dedicated to ensuring all children have the opportunity to reach their full potential. Sevier is a proud mother of two high school students and a college student.

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Department of Education Provides Guidance to Help Reduce and Improve Testing

February 3, 2016 By Leave a Comment

Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Education released guidance to help states and districts improve the quality of assessments and eliminate redundant and misaligned tests. Of significance to PTA, the guidance encourages Title I schools to conduct assessment literacy nights to increase understanding and communication between families and schools about the use of assessments and how to use test results to support learning at home. Acting U.S. Secretary of Education, John B. King Jr., also released this video explaining more about the guidance.

National PTA acknowledges the important role that high-quality assessments play in promoting equity and improving the outcomes of all of our nation’s children. Assessments provide valuable information to parents, teachers and school leaders about the growth and achievement of their students. At the same time, National PTA recognizes the concerns many parents and educators have about the over-emphasis on testing and impact it has on student learning opportunities in the classroom. We applaud the Department’s guidance to help address the current challenges and provide actionable opportunities for states and districts to carry out the work of improving assessments.

The letter to Chief State School Officers by the Department of Education follows President Obama’s Testing Action Plan that was released in October 2015 and identifies key principles for good assessments. While the newly enacted Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) encourages movement away from high stakes testing, the Department’s new document provides immediate opportunities for states and districts to take advantage of current federal resources to reduce testing and support more effective assessment systems since the new law will not take full effect until the 2017–2018 school year.

National PTA recognizes that many states are still working to implement high quality assessment systems that seek to provide valuable information to parents, teachers and school leaders about the growth and achievement of their students. The National PTA Board of Directors recently adopted a position statement on assessment that outlines several recommendations that were highlighted in the Department’s guidance such as auditing of assessment systems to reduce unnecessary tests, ensuring appropriate development, reliability and implementation of high quality assessments, clear and multiple means of communication and engagement with families on assessment, improving the timeliness and comprehension of assessment results, and providing adequate professional development to educators on assessment.

As stated in the PTA Board of Directors adopted position statement, National PTA believes a sound and comprehensive assessment system should include multiple measures of student growth and achievement that reflect the depth and breadth of knowledge and skills that students are expected to acquire, as well as their capacity to perform critical competencies. The association has long held that neither one test, nor a single data point should ever be the sole determinant of a student’s academic or work future. High-quality assessments play a vital role in providing valuable information to parents, students and teachers on student progress.

Jacki Ball is the director of government affairs at National PTA.

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