Former Commish Finalist Likes SB 1

One of the finalists for Kentucky Education Commissioner, the last time around, commented in today's Messenger-Inquirer about proposed legislation to change the CATS assessment.

Owensboro Superintendent Larry Vick likes a lot of the provisions in Senate Bill 1, including use of a norm-referenced test.

"A lot of people say with a multiple choice test you can't have higher-level thinking, but some well-designed tests are fairly complicated and involve concepts," Vick said. "We need a balanced assessment."

Vick ...[is] hoping lawmakers do more than just focus on CATS...

Vick said Senate Bill 1 is moving in the right direction and is an improved bill from last year. The easy part, though, is redesigning the test, he said.

"The harder part, which no one has talked about yet, is the assessment system," Vick said.

"How do we hold people accountable? How do we assess the results?"I think the Senate has made a real compromise based on last year's discussion. Now we should take a couple of years and thoughtfully develop a new approach to assessment."

It is unclear why Vick thinks no one is talking about the assessment system. It is also too soon to know if Vick will be in the commissioner mix this time around.