THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, February 16, 1996 TAG: 9602160541
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: General Assembly 1996
SOURCE: BY WARREN FISKE AND JON GLASS, STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 94 lines
An ambitious plan to overhaul the state's testing of student achievement has become bogged down in an escalating battle between Gov. George F. Allen and the General Assembly over money and philosophy.
At issue is whether the cash-starved state should begin spending millions of dollars to develop and implement new tests, or whether the money would be better spent improving classroom instruction.
Allen wants $23.5 million from the General Assembly to test statewide for student and school performance on the tougher academic standards in math, science, social studies and English adopted last summer by the Virginia Board of Education.
Arguing that Virginia schools spend billions each year without producing measurable results, Allen has made the testing program the centerpiece of his education agenda this winter. ``It is key to the big plan of having higher standards and expecting higher achievement,'' said Michelle Easton, an Allen appointee who is vice president of the state Board of Education.
``Higher standards on their own are a nothing burger. Without tests these aren't standards - they're only suggestions.''
The plan calls for testing students five times during their school careers - in grades three, five, seven, nine and 11 - plus administering a diagnostic exam to kindergartners.
But money committees in the House and the Senate are expected to insist on a sharp scaling back of the program when they meet Sunday to pass their versions of the state budget. Limiting testing to just three grades could save as much as $8 million, which could be funneled to classrooms, legislators say.
And Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee suggest that in return for their support of a limited testing program, they'll demand that Allen accept $6.6 million in federal education funds that he has refused.
The money is available under the Goals 2000 program, which provides funds to help students and teachers meet academic standards. Virginia is one of only two states to refuse the grant, though the Allen administration points out that three other states may be dropping out. Allen has expressed concerns that Washington will attach strings to the money, even though the federal Department of Education insists it will not.
``We'd be negligent if we did not avail ourselves of the $6.6 million to put in the (testing) plan,'' said Del. Thomas M. Jackson Jr., D-Carroll. He and other lawmakers argue that the federal dollars could defray the state's cost of testing and help cover the estimated $3.7 million that localities will spend in training teachers on the new academic standards.
Allen, who strongly believes that public education is a state and local matter that is no business of the federal government, shows no signs of relenting.
``There's no reason to link the two,'' he said of Goals 2000 and the testing program.
The governor also seemed unwilling to compromise on the scope of the testing programs. ``I don't think we should be compromising on it,'' Allen said this week. ``We're spending $6 billion (every two years on public education) and these tests to ensure children are learning are essential. It's inconceivable to me that folks wouldn't support this.''
Many lawmakers say they support the overall concept of testing to measure achievement from school to school in a locality, or from district to district across the state.
The problem, they say, is simply finding the money during a tight year when schools need money for computers and to trim class sizes.
``I say let's put the money first back in the classrooms,'' said state Sen. Madison E. Marye, D-Shawsville.
Allen's plan calls for phasing in testing next year and having it statewide in 1998. The state tests would replace three national exams and the literary passport test, administered in sixth grade.
Exactly how the results of the tests would be used is unclear. For example, the Allen administration and the state Board of Education have not addressed whether students who fail the tests should repeat grades.
Appearing to have shied from previous statements that the test could help weed out bad teachers and principals, the administration now characterizes the test as more of an ``effective diagnostic tool'' for students.
``This is not about failing people, it's about improving performance,'' said William C. Bosher Jr., state superintendent of public instruction. ``The most difficult task has been moving from the very controversial discussion of consequences to the very necessary discussion of how our assessments can be used as an instructional tool.
``If the tests are being used to assess where students are . . . the sooner we start, the better,'' Bosher added.
The Virginia Education Association, which represents most of the state's 75,000 teachers, wants to delay the tests until 2000 to give school districts time to adjust to the new academic standards, including costs for teacher training, new textbooks and technology.
KEYWORDS: EDUCATION SCHOOLS GENERAL ASSEMBLY STANDARDIZED TEST
FEDERAL GRANT by CNB