House passes bill to replace CATS test
Differences with Senate version
must be ironed out before final passage
FRANKFORT — The widely detested CATS school accountability test isn’t officially dead just yet – but it’s close.
The state House on Wednesday approved legislation to narrow the focus of the test, allow teachers to concentrate on fewer standards and students to gain a deeper understanding of those standards, according to Rep. Harry Moberly, D-Richmond. The test will cost less, take less time, and match up with Kentucky college and university expectations for incoming freshmen.
It removes writing portfolios from the accountability index, although they will continue as an instructional tool. Some open response questions will be retained, although fewer than in the CATS test. And it must be administered during the last two weeks of the school year.
The bill is largely the product of negotiations between the House and Senate over differences between the two chambers’ approaches to school testing. On Wednesday the House education committee inserted into Senate Bill 1 language reflecting those negotiations, although committee Chairman Carl Rollins, D-Midway, said there are a few differences still to be worked out.“
Basically, this is what we proposed,” said Sharron Oxendine, president of the Kentucky Education Association. “You can hear teachers cheering all over the state. They know it’s going to be a better day for instruction.” ...
No comments:
Post a Comment