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STATE SUPERINTENDENT PLANS TO NIX WKCE
Friday, August 28th, 2009 -- 10:07 am
Posted by Riley Hebert-News Director
Wisconsin State Superintendent Tony Evers says statewide tests will be phased out over the next couple of years in favor of a broader approach to assessment.
Evers said Thursday that the Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Exams will be replaced with a new system that combines state, district and classroom assessments that are more responsive to students, teachers and parents.
The change in policy follows a recommendation by a task force that studied the statewide tests that began in 1992. The tests are given to students in grades three through eight and 10.
Evers says the tests will remain for the next two or three years as the new system is developed.
Neillsville Superintendent John Gaier says most educators aren’t big fans of the WKCE. There are several reasons.
In theory, it’s supposed to help districts identify curriculum areas that need work.
"I wish that were the fact," Gaier says, "I think it's really being used as a comparison between districts."
For one thing, they way the tests are administered, the data doesn’t come back to the district until it’s too late to make the necessary changes.
"The results take so long to get back, they become, pretty much, non-usable for us," Gaier explains. "We have to use different assessments so that we have feedback faster than what the WKCE allows."
Gaier said most educators won’t shed any tears that the test is going away, but there are no guarantees the replacement will be much better. He believes there may be a strong push to replace the state test with a national test in the coming years.
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