DENVER—Agreeing that statewide tests for public schools aren’t improving education, a House committee approved a bill to update the state’s curriculum standards from preschool through college and add tests to make sure high school graduates are ready for college and work.
Gov. Bill Ritter backs the plan. He says education must change for the 21st century and the state has to be innovative when it makes the transition from 20th-century methods.
Ritter said the current dropout rate is too high and not enough students are graduating from college with the skills they need.
Lawmakers expressed frustration with the Colorado Student Assessment Program, developed by educators and teachers a decade ago. Those tests would be phased out and replaced.
Rep. Judy Solano, D-Brighton, demanded the House Education Committee strike a declaration in the education reform bill (Senate Bill 212) that said students have made “significant progress” in academic achievement since the state implemented the statewide tests a decade ago.
“We have not had significant increases in learning and achievement. If we had significant increases in academic achievement, the system wouldn’t be broken,” she told the committee.
The bill now goes to the Appropriations Committee.
Rep. Ray Rose, R-Montrose, said there is no evidence a new set of content standards telling educators what should be taught and what will be measured will work any better than the current system. He said a lot of information about student progress will be thrown out with a new system.
Rep. Mike Merrifield, D-Manitou Springs, said he worried that the Legislature is giving too much power to the state Board of Education and Colorado Commission on Higher Education to develop the new tests. He said teachers are worried there isn’t enough legislative oversight to ensure the new tests will work.
“I’m frightened of this bill,” he said.
Rep. Rob Witwer, R-Genesee, said the CSAPs are past their prime and need to be replaced.
