CTA is working to defeat legislation that would force the state’s 470,000 second-graders to continue taking the Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) achievement test for another four years.
Assembly Bill 1353, proposed by Assembly Member Bob Huff (R-Diamond Bar), would continue to subject youngsters to intense testing pressure and rob them of vital classroom instructional time. The bill is expected to get its first hearing this spring before the Assembly Education Committee.
A CTA-sponsored bill passed last year will phase out grade 2 standardized testing on July 1. The Huff bill would keep testing in force until January 1, 2011.
The federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act (also known as No Child Left Behind) only requires statewide testing in grades 3 and up. Continuing the testing would cost California $3.2 million annually.
“Our members throughout California want to defeat AB 1353 to ensure that teachers have the time to help our youngest students achieve the knowledge and skills required to meet the state’s rigorous academic content standards — instead of wasting time preparing children for age-inappropriate tests,” says CTA President Barbara E. Kerr.
Forty-one states do not mandate standardized statewide testing for students in grade 2.