Students in Lake County will have fewer tests to worry about this month after parents and teachers complained about the new state standards and the workload.
On Friday, the district’s superintendent suspended both the math and English district-implemented tests based on the outcry from teachers at Monday night’s school board meeting. Teachers said the new Florida education standards are too heavy of a workload so early in the year.
“It is an opportunity for the superintendent to really let the parents and teachers know that she’s listening, that we care about it, and that it’s going to be good for the children,” said school board member Bill Mathias.
The Lake Standards Assessment and the Lake Benchmark Tests in math and English will not be given this month to grades seventh through 11th, a way for the teachers to catch their breaths with the new curriculum.
However, the national preliminary scholastic assessment tests will still be given this month and in the spring – along with district’s implemented test.
Stuart Klatte is with the Lake County Education Association.
“Some of the other standardized tests they’re giving in this same October window measures the same skills so I think there is a recognition that these are redundant to what we are already doing,” Klatte said.
News 13 spoke with parents after Friday’s decision and they say the focus needs to be on the quality of education, not the quantity of tests.
“That’s really what it’s all about – not passing this test or that test – it’s learning,” said Daryl Flournoy, a parent of a Leesburg High School student.
This is the second time the district has decreased the number of assessments to measure student academic growth.
It was also done last summer as the state department of education tried to deal with its own changes to standards and assessments.