HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015 07-01 Funding cuts force swift end to mandatory ACT testing in Minnesota Schools STAR TRIBUNE Funding cuts force swift end to
mandatory ACT testing in Minnesota
schools
Districts must still offer the test to students who want to take it.
By Erin Adler(http://www.startribune.com/erin-adler/195633361/)Star Tribune
JULY 1,2015—10:36AM
Minnesota's requirement that all high school juniors take the ACT test on the state dime
is proving to be short-lived,after lawmakers cut the funding that paid for the exam.
Schools will still be required to offer the test to juniors and seniors who want to take it,
but districts will have to apply to the state for reunbursement of the testing costs.The
Legislature set aside$3 inillion per year for that purpose.
The change is one of many that Minnesota students will see in the 2015-16 school year as
a result of the Legislature slicing the Minnesota Department of Education testing budget
nearly in half,from$42 million to$22 million.
"There's too many tests,"said Sen.Charles Wiger,DFL-Maplewood,chair of the E-12
Finance and Policy Committee and a co-author of the bill."Too much time is being
spent on tests,which takes away from teaching."
Wiger said that he and other lawmakers heard testimony from a number of
superintendents who said the ACT'should be optional.Some students had already taken
it and didn't want to test again,while others had no interest in taking the college
entrance exam,he said.
The ACT was given to every junior on Apri128,the first tirne it was administered at
schools statewide.Taking the test was a graduation requirement,and education
department officials said it would help students who couldn't afford the$54 cost.The
department agreed to pay AC'T$13.5 million to administer the test for two years.
"Getting rid of the ACT,to us,is really a step back,"said Kevin McHenry,assistant
commissioner for the Department of Education,noting that the department can get out
of the ACT contract.
`Mixed message'from Legislature
Several school officials expressed surprise at the change of plans.
"To be honest,I'm floored,"said Phil Trout,a college counselor at Minnetonka High
School."Somebody obviously got in there who was a member of the bandwagon called
`way too much testing."'
Cuts to the state's testing budget will also affect other tests.Multiple tests that were
planned to be phased out afrer the 2015-16 school year will be cut a year early,including
ACT prep tests in earlier grades and the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment GRAD
tests in composition,reading and math.
The Legislature also reduced the total number of hours students can spend on nonstate
standardized tests.Elementary school students cannot spend more than 10 hours testing
per year,while grades seven through 12 are limited to 11 hours annually.
"Here we are in the time of[testing]accountability,and our No.1 resource to school
districts is having budget cuts,"said Gary Amoroso,executive director of the Minnesota
Association of School Administrators.`"I'here's a mixed message from the Legislature."
Erin.Adler@startribune.com 952-7463283