Two new testing bills introduced Monday are a step in the right direction, but need more work, released Tuesday.
PARCC practice tests in the Sheridan School District (Craig F. Walker, The Denver Post).
“Itap gratifying our legislators have listened to the wide chorus of testing criticism and seem to feel the same sense of urgency we do to fix a broken system now,” said Kerrie Dallman, a high school teacher and president of the CEA, the state’s largest teacher’s union. “At first glance, these bills fall short of restoring enough teaching and learning time to all of our classrooms, but we see opportunities here to collaborate with the sponsors and strengthen their ideas.
The bills introduced Monday each originate from one side of the legislature — House Bill 1323 is sponsored by Democratic Rep. John Buckner of Aurora and Republican Rep. Jim Wilson of Salida, the ranking members on the House Education Committee.
, is sponsored by Senate Education Committee chair, Sen. Owen Hill, R-Colorado Springs. All but two members of the Senate Education Committee signed onto the bill as sponsors.
The Senate version of the bill allows districts to test-run pilots for alternative testing systems so long as they meet federal requirements.
The bill would also postpone implementation of a law that requires 50 percent of a teacher’s evaluation to be based on test scores, for another three years.
Multiple testing bills have been introduced during this session. One, Senate Bill 215, was based on a list of recommendations from a testing panel commissioned last year. The bill had bipartisan support, and Gov. John Hickenlooper said he would be happy to sign it.
Just a week later, lawmakers confirmed they were working on new bills to replace it.
In the meantime, the Senate Education committee , Senate Bill 223, which would protect teachers, schools or districts in case students opt-outs leave their participation rates below required levels.
