According to State School Board member cost of SAGE test is too high

The high cost of the standardized test called Student Assessment of Growth and Excellence administered to students in April and May has one Utah School Board member concerned.

“We are spending an enormous amount of money, way above what we expect a standardized test to tell us,” said Terryl Warner, Utah State School Board District One member.

The state of Utah worked with American Institutes for Research to create the SAGE test in order to align with House Bill 15, which was passed by Utah Legislation in 2012. The bill required public and charter schools to assess students by adaptive testing, which was to be implemented by the school year 2014-2015.  

The original contract amount with AIR was $40 million, but three amendments were added, increasing the contract amount to be up to $47.3 million over a five year contract period.

“That is a lot of money, so we don’t have a big bank of test questions,” Warner said.

The test questions were created and then fielded by parents, teachers, administrators, professors and committees, who reviewed the questions for Utah, Warner said.

Warner works as a victims advocate at the Cache County Attorney’s Office, which she said provided her with an alternatative view about high-stakes standardized tests.  

“I deal with a lot of kids going through a lot of things,” Warner said. She has witnessed cases of domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse.

“Kids are going through difficult times and the idea that we would put so much pressure on a high stakes standardized test makes absolutely no sense to me,” Warner said.

An assessment assistant at Cache County School District thinks the test will be worth it.

“Regardless of whether we are with SAGE or another form of testing, there will always be a cost involved,” Robyn Hedgecock said.

There are multiple tests including math, English language arts and science. English language arts includes writing, reading, language and listening.

“I think as time goes on they will be teaching students to write a certain way with correct writing standards,” Hedgecock said.

Cache County School District scored the highest in the state in 2014. “It was the initial year, so it put a pressure on us to test well this year,” Hedgecock said. “We started switching to the new core in 2012-2013. I suspect that is why our students have done so well.”

New bumper sticker encourages parents to opt their children out of an annual state test

This week a concerned parent created a bumper sticker and magnet to bring awareness to parents about being able to opt their children out of an annual test.

Student Assessment of Growth and Excellence tests measure a child’s ability to comprehend what they have been learning in class. Students take the test starting in third grade and continue taking it through high school.

A group of parents who have started a Facebook group called Utahns Against Common Core are concerned the SAGE test is too hard, too tedious and the cost of the test is high for the government.

Allison Fisher, a parent from Holladay, Utah, created the bumper sticker because she wanted parents to be more aware of SAGE testing.

“I feel like a lot of people don’t know that it is an option for kids to opt out,” Fisher said.

The bumper sticker reads: “By state law — you can opt your child out of SAGE testing.”

Fisher posted a picture of the sticker on Facebook and asked if anyone was interested in buying one. Fisher said she got more responses than she thought she would. She has received around 30 requests for the bumper sticker so far.

Fisher said she wants to get the word out so parents feel like they have a choice.

Daniel Bracken, a middle school teacher at Matheson Junior High in Magna, Utah, said he had a group of kids opt out last year.

“Last year was the first time we gave the test and a lot of people didn’t know what the test was going to be about,” Bracken said. “If they do want to opt out there is no problem and I have students right now who have opted out for this coming year.”.

Bracken said he thinks that he will have fewer students opt out this year than he did last year.

SAGE testing will begin in either April or May depending on the school. Parents can opt their children out until the day before the test.

The stickers can be purchased through the Utahns Against Common Core Facebook page. Fisher ordered 65 bumper stickers and hopes to receive them sometime around March 23.

Welcome to standardized testing in public schools

Welcome to standardizedtestinginpublicschools.blogspot.com where journalist Bethany Heywood reports about testing in public schools. New standardized tests are being implemented in Utah school districts. This website will cover testing in school districts and how the teachers, students, parents and taxpayers feel about standardized testing.