Abby Neugeboren
Reporter
Beginning today, juniors will reluctantly usher in a new era of state testing as they take the new SBAC assessment on laptops, iPads, and PCs. From 11:30 to 2:05 on Tues., Mar. 25, Wed., Mar. 26, and Thurs., Mar. 27 as well as Mon., Apr. 7, Tues. Apr. 8, and Wed., Apr. 9, the junior class will take the SBAC field test, a trial run of the standardized test that will be rolled out next year.
The SBAC tests students in English and math, and represents a shift away from the old CAPT exam. The test measures student performance in the new Common Core education standards.
While the CAPT’s writing section entailed the use of literary analysis and personal knowledge to respond to a passage, the SBAC looks to comply more closely with the Common Core standards. “In Common Core, the shift is to more of a careful, critical analysis of text,” Dr. Luizzi said. “It’s less focused on the feedback and response from the reader and more focused on close reading and understanding literary devices used.”
The field test was pushed upon school districts as a trial run of the new system. “There have been feedback sessions, but local school districts didn’t really have a say,” Principal Dr. Bryan Liuzzi said. “The decision came from the national level of the Department of Education to the states.”
While NCHS did not choose to implement the new test , Dr. Luizzi agrees that the school had to change the testing in order to match the new standards of learning. “I believe there’s currently too much emphasis put on test scores,” he said. “Since No Child Left Behind and the Accountability Movement, any attempts that have been made to narrow down a school and its quality of education into a test score have been cut off and are considered wrong. I think in order to have a real sense of what a school is about we need to use multiple measures.”
The test data will be used by education officials to make decisions about public schools statewide. “By using specific data and other indicators, such as the SBAC tests, we can create a detailed analysis of what’s working and what’s not in schools,” Dr. Luizzi said. “I think that we have to be careful as we shift into a new testing system that we don’t make the mistake of labeling a school by a test score again.”
The tendency of AP and Honors students to perform better on this test has raised questions of fairness. “Because they dive deeper into how literary devices are used, they have a slight advantage. However, the main goal is to help us develop how and what were teaching and make sure it’s aligned with Common Core standards.” Liuzzi said.
Response from students has not been positive. Junior Class President, Charlie Sosnick said. “Truthfully, I think the juniors really got shortchanged here. However, we unfortunately do have to take them but I hope the administration does their best to ease the load on the class of 2015.”
Juniors were indignant at having to take another standardized test. “I don’t understand why we need to take the test because it doesn’t count for anything. I plan on not trying on the test because it won’t affect my grades or future. Only 95% of Juniors actually need to take the test so why can’t I be excused. The only good thing would be Luizzi trying to get us better lunches but that’s not going to fix anything.”
In response to student complaints, Dr. Luizzi visited English classes last week to address concerns. “It’s good that Luizzi is trying to help us manage our stress.” says Junior Gracie Castle. “I know he feels bad and I hope he can help make the experience easier.”
