A bill changing Oklahoma’s testing system from a once a year, multiple day event to shorter, multiple assessment is closer to becoming a reality. Senate Bill 2213, by Senator Clark Jolley (R-Edmond), would change the Oklahoma school end of year core curriculum tests from the current model to one that would alleviate counselors of their job in administrating tests and provide almost instant feedback to teachers on the performance of their students. “Teachers are given test results from the students from the prior academic year. They can have the tools to modify their instruction to fit the students’ needs if we’ll simply give it to them,” said Jolley. “By moving to growth model testing, we can track where a student or group of students need more focus and provide the teachers with that data three times a year within 24 hours. Compared to the current system, this would be a huge tool for teaching professionals.”

The bill would eliminate the annual testing in the April/May testing window and would implement three state-wide assessments what would take around an hour per student. The class time away from instruction would be minimized, as would the need for counselors to spend their time proctoring exams for the entire school. Similar tests are currently being done in large and small schools in Oklahoma in addition to the required testing at the end of the school year. It is believed that the new testing system would actually be less expensive than the current use and would provide better information for teachers. The bill will now be considered by the State House.