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Education committee advances bill to refocus high-school testing on ACT/SAT
Summary
The Tennessee House Education Committee voted to advance House Bill 675, which would shift high-school end-of-course testing and accountability toward nationally recognized college-admission exams (ACT or SAT) and provide alternatives for technical students.
NASHVILLE — The Tennessee House Education Committee voted Thursday to advance House Bill 675, a measure that would restructure end-of-course testing in grades 9 through 12 to emphasize nationally recognized college-admission tests such as the ACT or SAT and create alternatives for technical students.
The bill’s sponsor, Leader David Cochran, told the committee the intent is to ‘‘not move away from accountability, but ensure we are holding teachers accountable to the correct material and to the correct testing.’’ He said the proposal would refocus high-school accountability on tests tied to postsecondary admissions and could include technical equivalents such as ACT WorkKeys.
The measure would also require alternative assessments where local course offerings make standard course sequences (for example, Algebra II) impractical, Cochran said, noting counselors and directors had brought such gaps to lawmakers’ attention. ‘‘These are real issues brought to us by counselors, by directors of schools, by teachers, people on the front lines,’’ he said.
Chairman Haston supported the bill’s aim to reduce redundant testing and to tie high-school accountability to tests connected with scholarships and postsecondary options. ‘‘We have been over-testing, and we are focusing our data and our accountability on the wrong kind of testing, which is on the EOCs,’’ Haston said.
The committee adopted an amendment (6055) that had come out of subcommittee and then voted the bill out to the Government Operations calendar; the clerk recorded 15 ayes and 3 nays on the final vote.
The committee and sponsor discussed that the Senate version of the measure is currently more of a study bill; Cochran said the House language is more substantive and that the measure could be reconciled in finance to the Senate’s study approach. No final language change beyond the adopted subcommittee amendment was made in full committee.
What’s next: House Bill 675 moves to Government Operations for further consideration.
