Smarter Balanced tests a better option

I appreciate The Gazette's interest in the work of a task force created by the Iowa Legislature to recommend a state assessment program that meets the current needs of our students and our schools.

But your recent editorial, which second-guesses the Assessment Task Force's recent recommendations, was misinformed.

The task force represents a diverse group of education stakeholders, including parents, employers and educators. These stakeholders spent more than a year studying options for an assessment system that not only measures what a student knows at a certain point in time, but also supports classroom teaching by pinpointing a student's level of performance throughout the school year. This ongoing feedback is essential for teachers and parents to make instructional adjustments to meet the needs of individual students.

As a new member of the State Board of Education, I have worked hard to get up to speed on education issues that will demand legislative action, including assessment.

I have attended Assessment Task Force meetings, visited with teachers and school staff, and studied the options available for measuring student achievement.

I have invested this time and effort because I care about our state's future and, as a taxpayer, I want to know that our state's education system - which comprises 55 percent of our state budget - is preparing our children to be ready for the demands of college and career training. There is no way to know this without statewide standards that set consistent expectations for what students should know and be able to do, and assessments that measure whether students are meeting those expectations.

We have the right academic standards in place, now Iowa needs a state assessment that reflects those standards. Our current state test is not an accurate measure of what's being taught in schools today. Even if it were, the assessment is only given once a year.

The Smarter Balanced assessments recommended by the task force are more than a single annual test; they also provide real time measures of what students are learning. These are a system of quick, informal tests - some lasting only a few minutes - which teachers can use throughout the school year to identify the skills their students have mastered, as well as areas where they're struggling. This allows teachers to customize teaching and learning activities to meet a student's needs and, in turn, improve their performance. This approach to assessment doesn't take time away from instruction, as The Gazette suggests. Instead, it enhances classroom teaching.

Supporters of the status quo will use misleading cost estimates or technology concerns to argue against the Smarter Balanced assessments. In reality, these cost estimates don't include the dollars our school districts are already spending on additional tests to get the ongoing feedback that Smarter Balanced's assessment package would provide. Additionally, results from a survey of district readiness shows 99 percent of our public schools meet the minimum bandwidth requirements and have adequate computer resources to administer the Smarter Balanced assessments.

We need to test our students for the right reasons. A test that does not measure what's happening in our classrooms and doesn't drive improvement is not the right reason - in fact, it's a waste of our tax dollars. Providing our teachers and parents with the tools they need to ensure student success is the right reason. I urge our legislators to keep this mission in focus and to support the task force's recommendations.

' Mary Ellen Miller is a member of the Iowa State Board of Education. Comments: maryellen.miller@iowa.gov