Feds
force state to test 3 more grades next
year
Funding for extra exams must be
found
Thursday, July 14, 2005 • BY JOHN MOONEY •
Star-Ledger Staff
The number of public school students
taking state exams will nearly double next year, although it
is uncertain where the money will come from to pay for the
extra tests.
As required by the federal No Child Left
Behind Act, testing in language arts and math will expand to
the fifth, sixth and seventh grades, ensuring that students
will be tested every year from grades 3 to 8. The tests are
now administered in Grades 3, 4, 8 and 11.
But during last month's budget talks in
Trenton, the Legislature, with the approval of the Codey
administration, cut $7 million from the state Department of
Education that was earmarked for the new testing.
State officials said this week that the
money will be found once a contract for the new tests is
awarded, but they could not say where that money would come
from. Making the situation more difficult is the fact that
some legislators have expressed little support for the
additional testing, especially if the federal government
won't pay for it.
The uncertainty comes as the state is
reviewing proposals from private testing firms to develop
and administer the new exams.
Given over the course of a week each
spring, the standardized tests of multiple-choice and
open-ended questions are big events in many schools and are
used to gauge both student and school progress.
The results have also become the key
measurement of whether schools meet the mandates of the No
Child Left Behind Act -- that all students reach state
standards in language arts and math by 2013.
Four companies have submitted proposals
for the four-year contract to administer the tests for
grades 5 to 7. The contract is an important step in refining
how the state's tests are administered, education officials
said.
Among other requirements, the companies
have been asked to come up with proposals for earlier
testing and more immediate reporting of results, online
exams and methods to help teachers to both better prepare
students for the tests and analyze the results.
"In the past, it was an accountability
issue -- get the tests done and let the people figure out
what the scores meant," said Richard Ten Eyck, an assistant
education commissioner. "There will be a lot more on what
leads up to them and how we use the information we get from
them."
Education Testing Service, the Princeton
firm that administers the SAT and other national
standardized exams, holds the state contract for grades 3
and 4 testing. It is unknown if ETS has bid on the new exams
because state officials said they cannot disclose the
bidders until the contract is awarded.
State officials were uncertain when the
new contract could be awarded, although the new tests are to
begin next spring.
Money, however, is still an
issue.
Acting Gov. Richard Codey's initial
budget proposal for the Department of Education included
$23.2 million for testing, a $7 million increase over last
year that would cover the estimated cost of the new exams.
But when the final spending plan was approved earlier this
month, the increase was left out.
Education officials said the cut resulted
because there was not a firm dollar figure placed on the
cost for the new tests. Because the state is under a federal
mandate to administer the new exams, funding will have to
come from a supplemental appropriation or within the
existing budget, they said.
"We were told that while the money is not
there at this time, once we evaluate the proposals, we will
look to get the dollars from some source," Deputy Education
Commissioner Richard Rosenberg said.
But there appears to be a growing
sentiment in the Legislature that the federal government
should be picking up a greater share of the cost for the new
tests. In addition to the $17 million the state allocated
this year for testing, the federal government kicked in $9
million.
"The fact of the matter is the No Child
Left Behind is a federal mandate, and this testing does cost
money," said Assemblyman Craig Stanley (D-Essex), chairman
of the Assembly Education Committee. "Within the law, it
explicitly states that no state should incur additional
costs from this."
Others in Trenton are concerned that
testing, required or not, has gone overboard in
schools.
"There was a feeling on the (budget)
committee that there is just too much testing," said
Assemblyman Joseph Cryan (D-Union). "That's a pretty common
feeling out there, I might add a bipartisan
feeling."
John Mooney covers education. He may be reached at
jmooney@starledger.com or (973) 392-1548.
© 2005 The Star-Ledger. Used by NJ.com with
permission.
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