AMP test needed to go; students shouldn’t still have to take it

A recent decision by the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development to nix the controversial Alaska Measures of Progress (AMP) test was a good one.

Last year, school superintendents from 20 districts across Alaska — including Dr. Deena Paramo in the Mat-Su — signed a letter asking that the tests be repealed. The tests were poorly administered and gave results that administrators said left them with more questions than answers about student progress.

Standardized testing is a vital component of our educational system, as teachers, lawmakers and parents need solid data about what’s going on in Alaska schools. One of the only ways to measure progress is to give students yearly tests in order to compare how well our education system is working.

However, when a test fails to provide good data, it becomes a waste of time and resources. In this case, the AMP test was taking up valuable classroom time while returning very little on the state’s investment. It needed to go, and should be replaced with something that educators and administrators trust to provide more reliable data.

However, although the issue of the faulty tests has been resolved, there’s still one matter that remains outstanding. Because of federal regulations, students still have to take some form of standardized test, which means the AMP will remain in place this year. In other words, students will take a test whose data will be meaningless the following year.

The state should push hard to receive a waiver from the federal government that would allow Alaska schools to forgo the test. It’s likely many parents will pull their kids from school on testing days, and the kids that do stick around for the tests will gain nothing from the experience other than the ability to better fill in ovals with No. 2 pencils.

Every moment students spend in the classroom is vital, and to force children to take a test that everyone knows is meaningless seems like a waste — as is having a day of school when many kids are guaranteed to be absent. Instead of testing, the state should either hold normal instruction days or come up with something constructive for kids to do instead of take the test. Perhaps a field trip or outdoor activity could be planned instead.

This is one test our kids should be allowed to skip.