By Alia Malik
Originally published by San Antonio Express-News
About 150 people from the San Antonio area told State Board of Education members last week that they wanted to see less emphasis on testing in schools and more teacher input while designing assessments.
“The end goal is a real-world job, a real-life opportunity,” said Cameron Wilson, a senior at the International School of the Americas in the North East Independent School District. “It’s not to see how students answer A, B, C or D on a test.”
The group of educators, parents, students and business representatives had been invited to the forum, organized by State Board chairwoman Donna Bahorich at Education Service Center Region 20 on the East Side. Bahorich said she organized the forum, one of eight across the state, to collect input for an interim legislative commission on assessments and accountability.
Andrew Kim, superintendent of the Comal Independent School District, and Pauline Dow, associate superintendent for instruction at North East ISD, serve on the commission and attended Wednesday’s forum. Both said they were struck by the number of people urging a greater emphasis on student progress, rather than raw scores.
Dow said she was pleased that the state board asked for student input.
“I think that’s an important voice that’s not often included,” Dow said.
Read the original San Antonio Express-News story here.
