Reps. Tom Petri (R-Wis.) and G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.) recently teamed up on a bipartisan bill that would implement sophisticated testing methods to help states fulfill requirements established by the No Child Left Behind law.
The congressmen introduced the Assessment Accuracy and Improvement Act on Monday. The proposed bill would allow states to fulfill NCLB testing requirements by using computer-based adaptive testing.
Students take adaptive tests on computers. The difficulty of the questions are adjusted based on a student’s level of competence. If the student answers a question correctly, the next question will increase in difficulty. If the student answers incorrectly, the following question will be easier.
“Adaptive testing is proven to be a more effective tool for assessing student performance and competence than standard paper-based testing,” Petri said.
The Education Department limits the types of adaptive tests schools can use to fulfill NCLB requirements. Its policy is to accept only adaptive tests that test solely within a student’s grade level.
The proposed bill would ensure that schools can use tests that ask questions appropriate to other grade levels to determine if the student taking the test is ahead or behind his or her grade level requirements.
“States should have the flexibility to use the most effective methods for evaluating how students are performing,” Petri said. “If a student is performing two or three grade levels above the one he or she is in, it’s important to know that.”