Commission Members Tasked with Finding Solutions to Over-Testing
“When schools and teachers are forced to overemphasize standardized tests in the classroom, they deprive students of the kind of quality education they deserve,” said Governor Larry Hogan. “It is clear to most Marylanders that we are over-testing our students and the process needs to be greatly improved. I look forward to reviewing the findings and solutions that this commission produces to help get our schools back on the right track.”
The 19-member task force includes Acting State Superintendent of Schools Jack R. Smith; State Board of Education Member Guffrie M. Smith Jr. (appointed by the president of State Board of Education); four members of the legislature, Senators Nancy J. King and Paul G. Pinsky and Delegates Eric D. Ebersole and Shelly L. Hettleman (appointed by Senate President Miller and House Speaker Busch, respectively); and parents, teachers, administrators, and education experts appointed by the governor.
The governor’s appointees are as follows:
| Membership | Appointee | County |
| Commission Chair, Principal of James Hubert Blake High School | Christopher Berry | Frederick County |
| Governor's Designee | Mark Newgent | Howard County |
| Maryland State Education Association | Laura Potter | Harford County |
| Baltimore Teachers Union | Alohaa Chin | Baltimore County |
| Local Education Association | Leon Frison | Kent County |
| County School Board Member | Julie Hummer | Anne Arundel County |
| County Superintendent, County > 120,000 Students | Larry Bowers | Montgomery County |
| County Superintendent | Janet Wilson | Garrett County |
| National Board Certified Teacher | TBD | TBD |
| Parent | Laurie Halverson | Montgomery County |
| Parent | Karen Prengaman | Worcester County |
| Education Expert, Duplicative Testing | Andrew Smarick | Queen Anne's County |
| Education Expert, Former Md. Middle School Teacher | Nathaniel Malkus | D.C. Resident |
The commission is tasked with the following objectives: to review time spent in each grade and in each system on administering assessments; review the purpose of local, state, and federally mandated assessments; assess whether schedules allot enough time between assessments and receiving the results; if testing windows have negative ancillary effects on instruction and school calendars; consider the implications for Maryland if Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) changes allow flexibility in administering assessments; and ensure recommendations compare student achievement in districts, state and nation.
The commission will make recommendations based on its findings to improve the process for local, state and federally mandated assessments and develop best methods for ensuring adequate time for administering assessments and instruction.
6 comments:
Only noticed one entry from an Eastern Shore area - granted the current batch of school-board officials from Wicomico county are dumbocrat appointed anyway - but we should have a bigger voice!
Why didn't the teachers union fight this from the start?? Why did MSEA agree to common core and testing?? And now they voice opposition to this after the fact?? Teachers are so brainwashed to think unions are helping them. I thought teachers were supposed to be intelligent but when it comes to the union they are dumb as hell.
once again, the most highly-educated among us change the narrative for us!
We have decades of studies on this stuff already. Why are we wasting out time to discover what we already know? Our children are over tested. Standardized testing does NOTHING to help students learn. We are wasting valuable class time. Courses are getting removed to make way for the continual narrowing of learning to teach and master the "test".
Just get rid of these tests. They are as dumb as the people who approve of them. All these tests are is something dreamed up by people to make money as they are all FOR profit. They wine and dine and send lobbyists in to convince the admins and the politicians that the tests should be given. Kids don't even learn to actually think anymore as 'teaching' has evolved into nothing but memorizing. Teachers need to get out from under their rocks and say no more of this nonsense as well as parents.
Hopefully, the committee will also delve into the fraudulent manner in which special needs children with severe difficulties are tested. There is a problem when children who operate at toddler level pass any test. It is a waste of time to test them for anything but milestones, reported only to the parent.
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