Jon’s loving father discovered that something called the Smarter Interim was to take place this fall.  It is a form of the Smarter Balanced Assessment.

In selling the Smarter Balanced Assessment, Governor Markell loudly proclaimed we be doing one test, not two. And the Synopsis for the Smarter Balanced Assessments, HB 334 actually says so….

This bill provides for the transition of the statewide student assessment system, the Delaware Comprehensive Student Assessment (DCAS), to the Smarter Balanced Assessment System (Smarter). Specifically, the bill removes references to multiple assessments.

So one would think that we’d be going to one test right?

Here is a graphic view of the schedule:  (Parental Discretion Advised)

test schedule

Click for larger size.  As you can see the Smarter Balanced Interim carries from November through the end of they year…   The Smarter Balance Assessment begins March 2nd.

Back to HB 334… vague wording was used to allow this.  It was no accident…  Here is what was stricken…

One assessment shall occur within 30 school days of the beginning of the academic year, the second assessment shall occur at a time established by the Department which will allow its results to guide education of students within the current school year. In addition, the Department shall administer end of course assessments in appropriate high school grades.  

That was the old DCAS which was a good test and which made 97% of Delaware’s teachers rightfully appear highly effective.  For unlike other assessments, teacher’s were measured on their own output alone.  One test at the beginning, and one at the end, which showed they improved students learning… 97% of the time…

But, though many legislators thought they were voting to go with only one test, after all the governor said so, the Secretary of Education said so, Dave Sokola and Darryl Scott said so,  and even the Synopsis said so, and the part stricken in the bill even said so!

So why do we have more than one test?  Was it because they were tricked.

At no point in the bill does it state that there will only be one test.  So even with the lines pulled requiring three windows to take state assessments across the year,  the letter “s” on the end of assessment”s’  was never deleted. By using a game of switcheroo, done by refering to other sections ((b) and (c)) the bill, the multiple assessment was sneaked through…

This second assessment is not against the law… just against the conditions under which the law was passed. For the ultimate law actually does little to define the test, but hands over to the Department of Education, the sole authority to assess kids however they see fit.  They are solely in charge of the schedule, content, and grading….

Jon’s loving father quotes an unnamed legislator as saying he was lied to.  He was under the assumption there would be one test and he voted on that because that was what he was hearing from constituents:  that there was too much testing.

But now the testing amounts won’t change,  But I’m guessing that legislator was the one who must now be getting a new career lined up after getting bumped off Primary Day, primarily for supporting HB 334 and helping move Common Core forward….

Just an example of the tricks used throughout these past two years to get the Common Core agenda into law before anyone could stop it.