Starting in 2015, California schools will begin to get rid of the traditional multiple-choice form of test taking in exchange for a more modern measure of academic progress. Based on state recommendations released earlier this year, student academic progress will be measured by computer-based exams covering new voluntary national Common Core State Standards.
State testing will now put more emphasis on critical thinking and problem-solving skills to reflect the new standards of education, California Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson said to KPBS.
According to the CCSS standards website, the new standards are designed “to be robust and relevant to the real world, reflecting the knowledge and skills that our young people need for success in college and careers. With American students fully prepared for the future, our communities will be best positioned to compete successfully in the global economy.”
“We’ve been asking our kids to learn new skills and so the assessments must change, too,” Torlakson said. “We’re moving to a newer dimension, a higher dimension, a smarter and more effective learning system.”
The new form of test taking will include open-ended questions that are based on the diverse academic performance of students. Torlakson said the new standards and tests will help prepare students for college and careers.
Students will face more critical thinking questions throughout the school day rather than standarized multiple-choice questions. Students for example, may bring home fewer math problems, but each problem will take longer to finish, San Diego Unified School District Deputy Superintendent of Academics Nellie Meyer said.
“They have more real-world examples,” Meyer said. “They have, in some cases, multilayered problems—where first you have to solve this in order to solve the next problem. And so the difficulty at first blush—they do look somewhat more complicated.”
The state Legislature must still approve the recommendations made earlier this year and write guidelines for the plans before they can go into effect. Students will still take multiple-choice exams for the subjects required by federal law for the next school year, but the non-mandatory tests will cease.
Most school districts in San Diego County are on track for the training necessary to prepare students for the new standards and exams, according to Assessment Director for the San Diego County Office of Education Sally Bennett-Schmidt.
A proposal for increased school funding is expected to be presented to Gov. Jerry Brown for next year’s state budget. However, after five years of consistent cuts to education funding, there is no state money set aside to help districts with the testing changes.
