VCC Magazine Winter 2018

T estimonies H eard in H ouse C ommittees

In Support of HB808 By Keith Perrigan, Ed.D.

In Support of HB1162 By Tracey Mercier

Good evening Delegate Bell, other distinguished members of the committee, and guests. My name is Tracey Mercier, I am a constituent of Delegate Pillion, a parent, and an elementary special education teacher in Bristol.With your permission, I would like to speak in support of HB1162.

Today as I testify, I will tell you a true story about a young man I will call Timmy. However, I would challenge you to substitute Timmy’s name with the name of your son or daughter, your niece or nephew, or another student in Virginia for whom you share deep affection.

In 2015, when just five SOL assessments were no longer required, the difference in the expenditures going to Pearson Incorporated, according to Commonwealth Data Point, from the previous year was around $13.7 million. If that amount had been reallocated to Direct Aid, and divided equally amongVirginia’s school divisions, each one would have received more than $104,000, for a total of more than $312,000 since then. That may not seem like a lot of money for some, but you’d be surprised what cash-strapped school divisions could do with it. As a teacher, it has been very disheartening seeing tens of millions of dollars going annually to assessments, while school divisions delay repairing buildings, or cut personnel, classes, and budgets because they don’t have enough funding, but the money for testing is always there. Many of our students are taught in crumbling, poorly insulated buildings, without hot water or reliable internet access which hinders learning. Or I see students who would benefit from small group instruction and intervention, but the personnel isn’t there to provide it. Adding this money to direct aid would enable our public schools to provide more for those students who need more. Please know that I am not against standards or appropriate assessments, but I am highly concerned that the high stakes associated with these tests, have turned our children into test takers, instead of creative, critical, and collaborative thinkers. These tests do not prepare our children for the real world, for the depth, breadth, and diversity of our global economy, so why are we giving more than are required? SOL testing has caused our students to view high school as an ending, not a beginning to a life full of potential.With fewer SOL tests, more time and money could be invested in project-based learning, authentic assessments, actually completing science experiments instead of just reading about them, or going on field trips to see how math and science are used in advanced manufacturing plants instead of just solving word problems. Another casualty of administering more tests is, children are afraid of making mistakes; instead of seeing them as opportunities to grow, improve, and learn they see themselves as failures. More and more students are experiencing anxiety when they don’t grasp a concept immediately, and beat themselves up over it because they’re afraid of failing these tests. Tests that no college, university, military institution, or post-secondary vocational/technical school requires from their applicants. What truly makes people successful, can never be assessed by a standardized test…honesty, kindness, flexibility, empathy, humor, tenacity, motivation, and so many other characteristics that we value as civilized society. Why are we giving more tests than are required? While some think increasing testing has increased learning, because of the extra time devoted to pre-benchmark tests, benchmark tests, post-benchmark tests, reviewing for SOL tests, completing released SOL tests to practice test taking strategies, and then taking SOL tests…students actually have less time to learn. On average, I’d estimate that eight to ten weeks of instruction and learning are lost. It rips out a teacher’s heart when a student gets excited about a classroom discussion, and wants to dig deeper, but we have to cut them off, because we have to keep up with the pacing guide to cover all the

Timmy, was supposed to graduate with the class of 2017. However, due to the fact that he had not passed a Math SOL test, he was unable to walk with his class.  Despite having met every other criterion that is required over a 13-year span in Public Education, from 2003 to 2017, Timmy did not meet the requirements to earn a diploma in the Commonwealth of Virginia. According to Timmy’s mother “I cannot put into words what that did to our family.  Memories we will never be able to share or get back.  Invitations, cap and gown...never to be used.” Timmy did not fail to meet the requirements due to lack of effort. He has taken the Algebra 1 SOL Test 9 times and the Geometry Test 6 times. Keep in mind, each test takes approximately 2.5 hours to complete. He has earned scores of 387, 394, and 397 over and over again. Unfortunately, he has never reached the magic number of 400. In the meantime, Timmy works two jobs; he works at UPS in the mornings and Home Depot in the evenings.  His plan is to be a diesel mechanic and he was supposed to start the program at VHCC in January.  However, without that diploma, everything is on hold. Timmy is a very smart young man and is actually a certified mechanic at this point. Yet the lack of a high school diploma will keep him from realizing his dreams. By looking at Timmy’s category scores on different tests, it is easy to see that he has mastered the curriculum in each area. The problem is that he has never scored proficient in each category on the same day. However, learning should not be measured by one 2.5-hour test at one point in time during a student’s career. Allowing the VDOE to Super Score SOL tests would do two things: 1.It would consider learning over time instead of at one point in time. 2.It would give Timmy the diploma he spent 13 years of his life to earn. On behalf of Timmy’s all over the Commonwealth, I ask that you consider approving HB 808. Keith Perrigan, ED.D., Superintendent of Bristol Virginia City Schools. standards before the tests…making the curriculum shallow instead of deep. Why are we giving more tests than are required and losing more invaluable instructional time? In closing, since the inception of the SOL assessments, Virginia has given testing giant, Pearson almost half a billion dollars…but we’ve lost more than that…our children have lost the love of learning for the sake of learning, they’ve lost some of the happiest memories of their school years that we were fortunate enough to have, some have lost music, art, time to play, and peace of mind. Again, I ask, why are we giving more tests than are required? Our Commonwealth’s most cherished resource, our children, deserve the additional instructional time, additional resources, additional opportunities, and reduced pressure. I thank you for your time and for your service to our great Commonwealth. Tracey Mercier, Teacher, Stonewall Jackson Elementary School, Bristol, VA. V

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V irginia C apitol C onnections , W inter 2018

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