VWHS teachers testify on student testing

VW independent/submitted information

COLUMBUS — Two Van Wert City Schools teachers traveled to Columbus on Tuesday to testify before the Senate Education Committee in a hearing on school testing.

Chuck Rollins, a science teacher at VWHS, and George Scott, a high school social studies and psychology teacher, spent the day at the Statehouse meeting with state senators to discuss the new testing requirements implemented by Ohio for this school year.

Rollins and Scott were joined by teachers from Cincinnati Public schools, Miami Valley Career Tech Center and Triad, as well as Darold Johnson, OFT legislative director, and OFT President Melissa Cropper.

Two parents of children in Cincinnati Public schools also participated in the Legislative meetings to voice their concerns.

One of the main concerns raised by teachers, administrators and parents about the new state assessment programs is the amount of instructional time that is being lost in order to administer the tests.  Teachers are concerned about covering the state standards required for each course before the tests are implemented, while parents have expressed concern about the amount of stress students are placed under with high stakes testing and the impact that testing is having on their attitudes towards school and their overall physical and mental health.

Meanwhile, administrators have been scrambling to accommodate the online testing requirements and juggle the school calendar to meet the testing deadlines.

“I felt like the dialogue that we had Tuesday with our state legislators was extremely positive and it is obvious to me that our state leaders are as concerned as we are about the new testing protocol,” Rollins said. “The senators that we were able to speak with individually were very interested to hear about our concerns.

“I believe that we were able to clearly explain the issues at hand and that we provided some possible suggestions to reduce the testing burden on school districts,” he added. “It was an honor to get to testify at the Senate Education Committee’s hearings on state testing on behalf of teachers, parents, and administrators across the state.

“I believe that the members of the Senate Education committee, chaired by Senator Lehner, are totally committed to improving our testing protocols to allow us to assess student learning while minimizing the disruptions to instructional time for our children,” Rollins concluded.

“Although we are a relatively small district in the state of Ohio, it is evident that policymakers in the General Assembly value the input Van Wert has in regards to any legislation affecting our students,” Scott said.