In accepting that government shares responsibility for placing so much weightage on tests, President Obama called for capping standardized testing at 2 percent class time.
In explaining their next course of action, Obama said, “Learning is about so much more than just filling in the right bubble. So we’re going to work with states, school districts, teachers, and parents to make sure that we’re not obsessing about testing.”
In a study that covered 66 of the nation’s largest school districts, students take about 20 to 25 hours in a school year taking standardized tests. However, it did not take into account the preparation for mandatory tests that need to taken once a student is in the third grade.
Given that this is a subject for much debate over the Common Core Academic Standards, Obama and the Education Secretary, Arne Duncan, intend to meet with teachers and school officials in order to discuss the reduction of testing time.
In explaining one reason why testing should be reduced, Cecilia Munoz, director of the White House’s Domestic Policy Council, explains, “There’s just a lot of testing going on, and it’s not always terribly useful. In the worst case, it can sap the joy and fun out of the classroom for students and for teachers.”
Unfortunately, Obama cannot force both districts or states to limit testing. However, he has directed the Department of Education to make it easier for states to meet the federal testing mandates. He has also urged them to use factors that go beyond testing to assess a student’s academic performance.
Of course, the Obama administration still believes that standardized testing is a necessary assessment tool but want to ease the testing burden by finding more creative ways or just spending less time on it.