DENVER—Colorado would try to phase out state standardized tests for 10th graders and replace them with a battery of tests like the ACT program under a proposal given initial backing by the Senate on Thursday.
The proposed change was added to a larger bill (Senate Bill 212) aimed at updating the state’s curriculum standards to make sure high school graduates are ready for college or the working world.
Senators voted to jumpstart the effort by allowing willing schools to give tests to 10th and 10th graders to assess their skills followed by a college entrance exam, such as the ACT, in 11th grade.
Those students would still have to take the Colorado Student Assessment Program while the state asked for federal permission to change its test plans under the No Child Left Behind Act.
If the federal government approved the change, all high school students would take the new tests and the 10th grade CSAP would be scrapped.
Backers, including Sens. Josh Penry, R-Fruita, and Sen. Chris Romer, D-Denver, said students have more of an incentive to succeed on the ACT because it determines where they can go to college. By contrast, Romer said high school students don’t try to perform as well on the CSAP because they don’t gain anything from it.
Education commissioner Dwight Jones opposes changing the testing plan before the new standards are adopted because he said it might tie the hands of the education department.
“It is essential that the department be able to exercise the due diligence expected by the public in making critical choices that will impact our students for years to come,” he said.
The bill doesn’t specifically mention the ACT but many lawmakers assume it would be the natural choice since it’s already widely used in Colorado. About 30 percent of students take the first ACT assessment in 8th or 9th grade and 58 percent of students take the 10th grade test. All students take the 11th grade test.
It must pass another vote before it can be sent to the House.
