A conservative Florida senator with a flair for headline-grabbing proposals could generate lots of support in the anti-testing sector with his latest recommendation.
Sen. Alan Hays, R-Umatilla, has filed an amendment to the Senate’s major testing reform bill (SB 616) that goes to its final committee stop on Thursday, with availability Wednesday. His objective: To end third-grade retentions, graduation decisions and school grades based on state standardized test scores until the tests are more thoroughly vetted as valid.
The recommendation, in relevant part, states:
(c) The statewide, standardized assessments may not be used to determine grade 3 retention pursuant to s. 1008.25(3); high school graduation pursuant to s. 1003.4282; personnel evaluations pursuant to s. 1012.34; and school grades pursuant to s. 1008.34 until:
1. A report showing their psychometric validity, the coefficient alpha reliability, the content description validity, the differential item functional analysis, the criterion prediction validity, standard error of measurement, and the construct identification validity is produced and verified by the Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation, the American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, or the National Council on Measurement in Education. Once an independent organization certifies the assessment as psychometrically sound, the test item specifications must be published on the department’s website and be reported to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives; and…
