Published on Tuesday, March 09, 2010
By MICHELLE L. KLAMPE
Some Inland school districts forced to reduce costs are cutting back on evaluations that measure how well students are grasping material.
The evaluations, known as benchmark assessments, help teachers identify areas in which children are struggling and might need additional assistance. Districts also use the results to find and address strengths and weaknesses in teaching.
Many educators believe the evaluations help ensure that kids are learning and lead to better test scores on state tests given each spring. But the assessments also demand teacher's time and consume instructional hours -- both of which could be in shorter supply next year because of the state budget crisis. This has made them a target for cutbacks.
The crisis is so severe that school districts must consider every area for cutting and face hard decisions, said Linda Childress, assistant superintendent for educational services for the Riverside County office of education.
School districts across the Inland area and the state are laying off teachers, boosting class sizes, shrinking the school year, and closing campuses. In this climate, some school officials are questioning how they can continue the periodic evaluations in their current form.
"When we look at the costs, it's relatively low. It's more an issue of value for time spent," said Renee Hill, director of accountability and elementary education for the Riverside Unified School District. "Teachers see the value, but are pressed for time."
Each district has its own system for the tests, but most give them several times each year in the form of paper and pencil exams, writing exercises or a child reading aloud to a teacher. They can be given at every grade -- from kindergarten to 12th grade -- and in all major subjects, particularly English/language arts and math.
Some districts are considering small changes, such as cutting one section or reducing the number of questions from 30 to 20.
heavy workloads
Temecula Valley Unified School District administrators and the teachers union agreed last month to review the district's benchmark testing as part of a deal to save money.
Temecula faces as much as a $26 million budget shortfall in 2010-11. To reduce costs, the district is cutting about 150 teaching positions, shortening the school year by five days and increasing class sizes.
The larger classes and fewer days will impact the evaluations, teachers said. Reading exams, which are done one-on-one with the child reading aloud to the teacher, will be harder to complete with 25 students, rather than 20 in a class, said Mike Cruz, a second-grade teacher at French Valley Elementary School.
While listening to the reader, the teacher also must ensure the rest of the class is occupied and behaving, he said. The assessment can take 20 minutes or more, depending on the child's reading ability. Teachers conduct three of these tests each year.
"That's very time-consuming," Cruz said. "It's just way too much."
Jodi McClay, Temecula Valley's director of curriculum, instruction and assessment, said the district will form a committee in April or May to suggest changes. The assessments could be shortened or pieces of them eliminated.
"Are there a couple (of assessments) at each grade level we could drop or combine? Let's trim some fat, so to speak," she said.
The Corona-Norco Unified School District has suspended a round of its benchmark tests this school year as part of budget cuts, Assistant superintendent Tom Pike said. It's too early to know how this will affect students and teachers, Pike said.
standing pat
Other school districts are vowing to stick with their programs, despite requests from some teachers to cut back.
The Lake Elsinore Unified School District began using the evaluations several years ago as part of an effort to get the district out of program improvement, a federal designation for failing schools that could lead to sanctions. The district has since exited that program after raising state test scores.
"Most teachers would say it could go now because we have other ways to do evaluations," teachers union President Terry Harris said of the practice
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