No confidence in student assessment tests | Letter

Published 8:49 am Thursday, April 2, 2015

I have no confidence that the Smarter Balanced Assessments will be a valid measure of student knowledge in our state. Recently, I explored several of the practice tests and scoring guides. I discovered that this is not merely a harder test. This is a harder test with a poorly designed user interface, non-intuitive tools, heavily nuanced language, subjective answers, and glaring inconsistencies. The ambiguity of some questions will force students to second-guess, and to make assumptions. And for struggling students, this test will fail to reflect valuable incremental growth.

I am calling for parents and educators to meet this pivotal change with eyes open, understanding that this baseline is arbitrary until proven otherwise. Look for yourselves. Take the practice tests. Score your answers. See what our kids will be experiencing firsthand.

Questions are not answerable if the answers are questionable.

Kristen Magnuson, Bellevue