skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Monday, March 18, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

Bills to Reform Standardized Testing Get Broad Support

play audio
Play

Thursday, April 27, 2017   

HARRISBURG, Pa. – A package of five bills designed to rein in standardized testing in Pennsylvania schools is getting bipartisan support.

The goal of the bills, introduced on Tuesday, is to take some of the focus off standardized tests through policies that make sense for students and teachers.

According to Jerry Oleksiak, president of the Pennsylvania State Education Association, the bills address concerns that the emphasis on high stakes testing has interfered with teachers' ability to do what they're supposed to be doing – educating their students.

"They would help to reduce the amount of testing, the time of testing, the time of preparing for the test, remediating for the test, and also the expense for the school districts," Oleksiak explains.

The bills would require that exam results only be used to comply with federal law, let districts decide if the exams should be required for graduation and give parents more latitude to opt out.

Oleksiak says the primary purpose of some standardized testing is to evaluate teachers and schools. But he doesn't believe they give a fair assessment.

"Tests are just one way to look at how a child is doing in school, and it's a snapshot,” he points out. “It's not going to give you a full picture of how well the student's doing, how effective the teacher is or how good the school is doing."

Oleksiak says some schools have cut back courses, extra-curricular activities and other things students need to spend more time preparing for tests.

Parents and educators have been raising concerns about the over reliance on standardized tests for several years.

Oleksiak maintains the bills introduced this week show that state lawmakers have heard those concerns.

"It has bipartisan support in both the House and the Senate,” he states. “They're still circulating co-sponsorship memos, so I think this will generate more support the more that people understand the value of it."




get more stories like this via email

more stories
Corporate partners sign contracts to offer a graduate assistantship and pay the students. In turn, MSU pays the graduate assistant's tuition, fees and salary, so the assistantship is directly tied to the academic experience. (pressmaster/Adobe Stock)

play sound

By Victoria Lim for WorkingNation.Broadcast version by Farah Siddiqi for Missouri News Service reporting for the WorkingNation-Public News Service Col…


Social Issues

play sound

A new report brands Connecticut's tax system as "regressive" for low- to middle-income residents and uses a report from the state to make its point…

Environment

play sound

Backers of a new federal rule said it will increase fairness for livestock and poultry producers, in North Carolina and across the country. The U.S…


A study by the advocacy group Inseparable showed one in five adults said at any given time, they consider their mental health to be either 'fair' or 'poor.' (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Mental health care advocates are encouraging federal agencies to adopt a proposed update to regulations which would expand access to psychological car…

Social Issues

play sound

With hotter summers bringing hotter working conditions, the Maryland Department of Labor is implementing a heat stress standard to protect workers …

Out-of-state money is pouring into Texas as the contentious issue of "school choice" looms large ahead of November's election. (Dzmitry/Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

By Jimmy Cloutier for OpenSecrets.Broadcast version by Roz Brown for Texas News Service reporting for the OpenSecrets-Public News Service Collaboratio…

Environment

play sound

Recreational fishermen in New England say commercial trawlers are threatening the survival of smaller businesses relying on a healthy stock of Atlanti…

Social Issues

play sound

Women are treated much differently than men by the criminal justice system, according to a new report detailing how and why mass incarceration is …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021