The NYS Board of Regents on Monday voted to reduce the number of days of student testing for grades three through eight.
The changes for the English language arts and mathematics tests will take place in the spring of next year.
The number of days for the tests will be reduced from three to two. Regents Chancellor Betty Rosa says the board wants to make certain the tests continue to provide a valid measure of student achievement.
That sentiment is also being expressed by Adam Urbanski, who is the president of the Rochester Teachers Association. He says progress is being made on revamping the testing procedures but more needs to be done.
“The premium should be on active learning and on performance based assessments. Right now, most learning is passive, unfortunately and the assessments are easy to administer and to quantify but they’re not necessarily useful to the students or the teachers.”
Those Common Core tests have been the subject of much debate and complaints over the last couple of years by some parents, students and teachers over their content and implementation.
During a visit to Rochester last month, State Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia said the state has been working to streamline and improve the standardized tests, and getting teachers and parents more involved in the process.
