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Kent teacher urges district to stop high‑school I‑Ready testing, says it uses instructional time without clear benefit
Summary
A Kent School District teacher told the board during public comment that I‑Ready testing consumes too much classroom time in high schools and provides little actionable diagnostic information for older students.
At the March 26 Kent School District Board meeting, Kentwood High School English teacher Nanette Navarro urged the board to discontinue high‑school administration of the I‑Ready reading assessment, saying the testing costs nine to 12 class hours and provides little reliable diagnostic information for high‑school students.
Navarro said I‑Ready testing does not predict performance on the state Smarter Balanced Assessment (SBA) at the high‑school level, and she described inconsistent student results that she called misleading (for example, a low I‑Ready level and a high Lexile score). She said district high school teachers have not used I‑Ready results constructively in recent years and that the assessment does not inform placement, graduation pathways or IEP tracking for many students.
Navarro asked the board to discontinue I‑Ready at the high‑school level and redirect instructional time and district resources toward classroom instruction, staffing and student supports. She said districts use other statewide summative assessments and local achievement data for placement and growth monitoring and argued I‑Ready’s high time cost and low perceived utility make it inappropriate for high schools.
Board members did not take immediate action on Navarro’s petition during the meeting; the comment was entered into the record and staff acknowledged receipt of the concerns. Navarro’s remarks join prior community feedback the board will consider as staff review assessment and instructional practices.
