Tulsa Public Schools starts back this week and for some in the district there will be a lot less testing due to recent cut backs. But still others say those testing cuts need to be deeper.
Last year, teachers spent 135 hours testing students in grades K through 12. This year, the Tulsa Public School Board reduced that time to 60 hours.
"And so yes, I think there was definitely a sense that we had an abundant amount of enthusiasm to make sure that we were getting good information about how our students were doing," said Dr. Deborah Gist, the district's new superintendent. "And there was some over stepping."
Gist says it wasn’t just an over stepping in the amount of tests, but says the district was taking power away from teachers and principals by making the tests mandatory.
"I do believe that it’s very important for us to respect our teachers and our principals as professionals – as the educators," she said.
The majority of the eliminated tests were called check-ins. They were tests in various subjects that students from 3rd to 12th grade had to take. They’re now optional. If teachers and principals want to use them- they can.
The debate over testing in the district started last November when two first grade teachers called some of the mandatory tests "developmentally inappropriate", and refused to administer them.
The district then set up a task force to look in to all district-wide testing issues.
Lisa Sander, a teacher on the task force, said they found quite a few problems with the check-in tests.
"What we were finding on the district check-ins were examples of test questions that were not appropriate or they were incorrect, or there was maybe not a right answer," she said. "So they weren't good test questions. And that was a lot of the frustration."
Based on their research the task force made a long list of recommendations and the school board adopted the top three.
In addition to eliminating the check-ins the district cut a few other tests, but testing in kindergarten through second grade didn't change.
Sander says she’s happy that Gist is listening, but says more could be done.
"We still think it’s kind of a work in progress," she said.
The recent reduction in testing eliminated six hours of testing from her third grade class, but she says there’s still quite a bit left. Her students took 27 tests last year that were either federally, state, or locally mandated. She’s hoping to find one test that can fulfill multiple mandates.
"As long as we keep the dialogue open, I think that would be really positive," Sander said. "We just don't want to forget about it and not continue to do the right thing for our kids."
