Less Testing, More Learning - what happened to these bills in the 2016 General Assembly

Decreasing the sheer number of tests, and volume of time spent preparing for and taking tests, K-12 students take in their school life is a major focus of the Maryland State Education Association(MSEA) these days.  It's "Less Testing, More Learning" initiative successfully partnered with a number of legislators to introduce a package of bills in the General Assembly this year, with mixed results. Here's a link to the MSEA's summary report from its "Less Testing, More Learning" website:

http://lesstestingmorelearning.com/learn-more/

Here is a brief review of the various bills, including how the bill progressed through the General Assembly this year.

HB141/SB407 – Education Accountability Act – Limits on Testing -   sponsor Del. Luedtke

The bill would require the State Board of Education to adopt regulations limiting the total amount of time that may be devoted to federal, State, and locally mandated tests for each grade to 2% of the specified minimum required annual instructional hours.

Here is the link to the bill’s page on the GA website:

http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/webmga/frmMain.aspx?pid=billpage&tab=subject3&id=hb0141&stab=01&ys=2016RS

The House version of the bill made it through the Ways and Means committee, and was passed unanimously by the House, but the House bill never made it out of the Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs committee.  The Senate version of the bill didn't make it out of committee.

HB397 – Education – Best Practices in Administration of Assessments –

Dels. M. Washington and Ebersole

The bill would require the State Department of Education to develop a specific set of best practices that the State and local school districts must use when deciding whether to administer an assessment or test to students.

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Here is a link to the bill’s page on the GA website:

http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/webmga/frmMain.aspx?id=hb0397&stab=01&pid=billpage&tab=subject3&ys=2016RS

Like HB141, this bill was voted out of the Ways and Means committee, and passed unanimously in the House, but died in the Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs committee.

HB412/SB533 – Education -Administration of Assessments – Notice -   Del. Kaiser
The bill would require each county board of education to provide information relating to each assessment administered in a local school system that includes the title, purpose, grade level tested, subject area, testing window, time to complete, loss of instruction time, and accommodations for students with special needs.

Here is a link to the bill’s page on the GA website:

http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/webmga/frmMain.aspx?id=hb0412&stab.01&pid=billpage&tab=subject3&ys=2016RS

This bill passed both the House and Senate, and was signed by the governor on April 26.

 

HB657 - Pre-K and Kindergarten Readiness Assessments  -   Del. Shoemaker
This bill would limit administration of state mandated 'school readiness' assessments to a random sampling of Pre-K and Kindergarten students in each local school district.  According to legislators I've spoken to, this bill addresses concerns expressed by a large number of teachers and school administrators concerned about the amount of instructional and interactive class time lost to the process of administering school readiness assessments to every pre-k and kindergarten student.

Here is a link to the bill page on the GA website:
http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/webmga/frmMain.aspx?id=hb0657&stab=01&pid=billpage&tab=subject3&ys=2016RS

This bill unanimously passed both the House and Senate, and was signed by the governor on April 26.