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Teachers and parents urge board to reduce benchmark testing, cite lost instructional time
Summary
Teachers and parents said benchmark and standardized testing consumes instructional hours, contributes to chronic absenteeism and burnout, and urged the board to eliminate or reduce benchmark testing in the district’s assessment calendar.
Amanda Shaw, a second‑grade teacher, and Jeremy Barrett, a district teacher, told the board that benchmark testing consumes excessive instructional time and contributes to student and teacher stress.
Shaw said she documented the “hidden hours” that standardized testing takes from students and teachers and asked the board to reduce overlap among remaining tests. She said that, even removing some benchmarks, K–2 students face “43 hours” of standardized testing time in the school year and characterized that as the equivalent of multiple school days. She asked the board to pursue accountability and alignment to minimize unnecessary testing time.
Jeremy Barrett told the board that benchmark tests “waste time” and that the data collected are often invalid because students do not treat low‑stakes benchmarks the same as high‑stakes exams. Barrett said benchmarks “create stress” for students and teachers and contribute to burnout, and he urged the board to trust teachers’ professional judgment and stop requiring the assessments.
Both speakers asked the board to align assessments better with classroom instruction and to consider removing remaining benchmarks in the FY26 testing calendar. No formal action on testing policy was taken during the meeting.
