TRENTON – A bill that would eliminate the tests students need to graduate, leaving boards of education to determine graduation requirements has advanced to the State Senate.
Assembly bill A-4121 would eliminate the high school graduation proficiency test, which is taken in 11th grade. Graduation requirements would be determined by local boards of education, but the State Commissioner of Education would monitor these requirements.
The bill passed the Assembly (55-17-0). It now goes to the Senate Education Committee.
There was considerable discussion on it during an Assembly Education Committee recently.
Two people who were against the bill were given the opportunity to speak first.
“There needs to be a mechanism that clearly communicates proficiency for our graduates,” said Athea Ford, vice president of government affairs for the New Jersey Business and Industry Association. Future employers need to know what graduates are capable of.
Whether this mechanism is the graduation proficiency test or something else, the NJBIA doesn’t have a strong opinion, she explained. There just has to be something.
Wells Wingar, executive director of the New Jersey Policy Institute, also said that there needs to be something showing that schools are preparing students for the future.
There are many problems with the proficiency test, he said, but at least it’s a general metric that can be used across all schools, so that teachers, parents and others can learn where students are excelling or need more help, and to find achievement gaps between groups.
A new administration should be part of the conversation, he said. They need to have some kind of test, even if it’s not this test.
“The bill is a hatchet, not a scalpel,” he said.
This was followed by others speaking in favor of getting rid of the test.
Nicole Ciullo, Associate Director of Policy and Development, Education Law Center said that standardized tests historically hurt students of color and those of lower economic class.
“The state spends millions of dollars on tests without any educational value,” she said.
Deborah Cornavaca, New Jersey Education Association Director of Government Relations – Politics and Policy, said there are only six states that still have a graduation exam.
“This educational exam is a barrier and a waste of time and money,” she said.
The purpose of a test should be to see where a student needs more help and then follow up on those areas. That’s not what’s happening here, she said.
“Teachers want to have the freedom, and the time to help the ones who are struggling – not to pass that test but to succeed in the areas of their interest,” she said.
Debra Bradley, Director of Government Relations for the New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association, warned that the issue has become politicized. However, administrators know that there are many tests throughout high school that provide metrics for learning, and this one adds no new information.
“Some kids understand which tests matter,” she said, and which ones they don’t take seriously.
Steve Beatty, president of the NJEA, and Harrison Silver, Legislative Advocate, New Jersey School Boards Association, also spoke on behalf of getting rid of the test.
Other groups who wrote in to advocate for removing the test included the Great Schools Of NJ, Garden State Coalition of Schools, and Save Our Schools NJ.
When it came time for the Assembly Education Committee to vote on the matter, there was one no vote.
Assemblywoman Dawn Fantasia said that she’s seen it happen where education standards slide without something like this keeping them high. She mentioned Asbury Park students being given community service in order to pass.
“What doesn’t get measured, doesn’t get done,” she said of testing.
Assemblyman Al Abdelaziz said he works at a high school and sees what these high stakes tests do to kids. If they have issues at home they could fail it, and it doesn’t accurately represent their knowledge.
“These high stakes assessments need to go,” he said.
Assemblyman Avi Schnall said “I’m from Brooklyn, New York. I’m still recovering from the Regents Test. I do believe in parental choices and home rule.”
Assemblywoman Rosaura Bagolie also spoke about test anxiety and failing a test just because of health issues. She said that passing this test doesn’t mean they are graduation-ready; it just means they are good at taking this particular test.
Assemblyman Sterley S. Stanley said he had a PTSD reaction when Assemblyman Schnall mentioned the Regents Test. He said the graduation exam is redundant.
The bill now goes on to their Senate counterparts for a discussion and vote.
