Concern Raised About New Student Assessment Test

Cathy Gardino of Falcon said she was surprised and disappointed when she received a newsletter from School District 49 last week, explaining how a new student assessment test would work.

“I saw four levels of failure — four F’s — added to the grading scale,” said Gardino, who has a granddaughter enrolled at Falcon High School. “I think that’s not a good sign. That’s making things easier. How are the kids going to understand it if parents don’t?”

Gardino said she asked a district official about the scale, and said she didn’t get a satisfactory answer.

“He seemed as confused as I did,” she said.

Gardino is referring to the Transitional Colorado Assessment Program, in its first year of replacing the former Colorado Student Assessment Program. Some students from grades 3 to 10 began taking the test Monday, with testing continuing into April for nearly 500,000 students.

KRDO NewsChannel 13 tried to contact the district about the TCAP situation but did not receive a response Monday. However, Jo O’Brien of the Colorado Department of Education denied any change in the grading scale and said the test is similar to the CSAP.

“Maybe something has occurred at the district level that might be part of the conversation,” O’Brien said. “But I can assure you… we have not changed scoring. We can definitely look into (Gardino’s complaint). We want to pay attention to wherever the misunderstanding occurs, but we’re on a day-to-day basis with schools and districts.”

O’Brien said it’s possible that a few districts may not fully understand the requirements of TCAP, although she believes 90 percent of districts have received extensive preparation for it.

TCAP was developed after the state board of education decided in 2009 that the 16-year-old CSAP was outdated and needed to be replaced. TCAP will serve as a transition to a a permanent assessment test with new education standards, expected to begin in 2014 or 2015.

When TCAP was announced, some educators expressed concern that student achievement couldn’t be fairly evaluated by a transitional test. However, O’Brien said school districts requested a grace period to gradually adjust to the new standards.

O’Brien said TCAP includes some, but not all, facets of CSAP. She said the new test focuses less on memorization and more on problem solving, creativity and ability to apply information.