Washington, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) introduced legislation to streamline and improve testing practices in our nation’s classrooms. In advance of Senate consideration of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), Brown cosponsored the Support Making Assessments Reliable and Timely (SMART) Act, which would help states ensure statewide and local assessments are reliable and timely, while eliminating outdated or duplicative tests.

“Annual testing can be a useful yard stick to measure student achievement,” Brown said. “But too often our students are inundated with duplicative tests. Excessive testing discourages learning and impedes instruction. That’s why the SMART Act is so important. By aligning tests so that instruction is not interrupted, teachers will remain accountable and parents can rest assured that their children are not undergoing duplicative testing.”

The SMART Act – introduced by U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR-1) – is aimed at improving mandatory state assessments to ensure they are efficiently and accurately measuring students’ progress and teacher effectiveness.

Specifically, the legislation would update an existing grant formula to assist states and local education agencies in aligning testing materials to college- and career-ready standards. The funding can also be used to speed delivery of test data to educators and parents – providing more time for educators to design instruction based on test results. Additionally, states can undertake audits of existing practices to eliminate unnecessary assessments, design more effective systems, and amplify effectiveness of remaining exams to support educators. A one-pager is available here.

Earlier this week, Brown held a roundtable discussion with teachers and officials from the Ohio Education Association where they discussed priorities for the upcoming ESEA reauthorization. The SMART Act was among the issues discussed.

"Student testing is quite simply out of control," said Becky Higgins, President of the 120,000-member Ohio Education Association. "As our members told Senator Brown, it is sucking the joy out of learning and teaching. It's vitally important that lawmakers at every level of government address this issue and reduce the excessive testing that is taking place in our schools. We commend Senator Brown for his initiative."

 

"We are pleased to see that Senator Brown is introducing legislation that will bring common sense to testing," said Melissa Cropper, president Ohio Federation of Teachers. “Our students and teachers are overwhelmed by testing. What we need are assessments that inform but allow teachers to teach and students to learn. Senator Brown's bill is an excellent starting point.”

 

In addition to the Ohio Education Association and the Ohio Federation of Teachers, the bill has broad support – including endorsements from the National Education Association, the American Federation of Teachers, the Education Trust, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights (LCCR), the Center for American Progress, the National Center for Learning Disabilities, and the National Council of La Raza.

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