High-stakes stardarized tests will be phased out in the San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD), Superintendent Cindy Marten announced Wednesday.
Superintendent Cindy Marten says in a survey, 90 percent of teachers say they over test their students and many tests aren't beneficial to their students.
San Diego Unified School District will soon eliminate an interim test that's currently taken twice a year.
“We’re moving away from over testing. How many times do we need to test students to know that they’re learning?” Marten said.
Beginning this fall, all teachers at each school will be allowed to determine how they will test the progress of their students, Superintendent Marten said.
She says the new assessments will be approved by the district. Other tests within the district may be eliminated in the future.
Teachers will also be able to adjust and change their assessments every school year depending on their students’ needs.
Martin says these “school based assessments” will be submitted to the district but test results will not.
Teachers will no longer be required to report results on the Diagnostic Reading Assessment (DRA).
Marten says this will give teachers and students more valuable instruction time.
SDUSD board member Richard Barrera tells NBC 7 San Diego, the tests being eliminated are not the ones that hold teachers accountable for students' progress. He says those are the state mandated common core tests.
Barrera also says the board is working with the teachers’ union to evaluate teachers based on the standardized testing.
Federal and state tests will remain unchanged but Marten says state tests also need to be re-evaluated so that they are meaningful to show how well the students are learning.
