By Brian Gray
bgray@ themonroetimes.com
MONROE - Like other districts in Wisconsin, Monroe plans to continue the Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Exam (WKCE) for a few more years.
Cory Hirsbrunner, director of instruction at the Monroe School District, said in July the district would be using the test for the next four years.
Last week, Hirsbrunner said the WKCE tests help districts follow student achievement from one year to the next. The test can help districts follow students as they move on from third to fourth grades and so on, she said.
However, districts shouldn't focus on just one test to monitor student achievement, she said. Monroe uses MAP (Measures of Academic Progress) tests as well as the WKCE to get a better idea of how students are learning material taught in class.
Monroe will continue to use other tests beside the WKCE, she added.
The WKCE is given every year to students from third to eighth grades and high school sophomores. In 2008, the test was given to 430,000 students in Wisconsin.
Last year the Wisconsin Department of Instruction (DPI) considered phasing out the test as it looked for a new way to assess students' education. State Superintendent Tony Evers said in a press release issued last year by the DPI that students would have to take the test for at least one more year.
Evers said the test, which has been used since 1993, has been used to measure school accountability since the No Child left Behind law was enacted in 2002.
A task force of 42 people was organized in 2008 by the DPI to help the state develop a "balanced assessment system that would go beyond annual, large-scale testing like the WKCE," Evers said.
Jennifer Thayer, DPI Division for Reading and Student Achievement assistant state superintendent, said the state still plans to phase out the test, but it will take a while.
"The timeline is going to be longer than initially anticipated due to a national effort to improve assessments," she said.
Thayer said $350 million has been set aside as part of the Race to the Top for a group of states to develop new assessments. The consortium submitted an application in June for federal money, Thayer said. It should know in September if it will receive funding to develop a new test.
bgray@ themonroetimes.com
MONROE - Like other districts in Wisconsin, Monroe plans to continue the Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Exam (WKCE) for a few more years.
Cory Hirsbrunner, director of instruction at the Monroe School District, said in July the district would be using the test for the next four years.
Last week, Hirsbrunner said the WKCE tests help districts follow student achievement from one year to the next. The test can help districts follow students as they move on from third to fourth grades and so on, she said.
However, districts shouldn't focus on just one test to monitor student achievement, she said. Monroe uses MAP (Measures of Academic Progress) tests as well as the WKCE to get a better idea of how students are learning material taught in class.
Monroe will continue to use other tests beside the WKCE, she added.
The WKCE is given every year to students from third to eighth grades and high school sophomores. In 2008, the test was given to 430,000 students in Wisconsin.
Last year the Wisconsin Department of Instruction (DPI) considered phasing out the test as it looked for a new way to assess students' education. State Superintendent Tony Evers said in a press release issued last year by the DPI that students would have to take the test for at least one more year.
Evers said the test, which has been used since 1993, has been used to measure school accountability since the No Child left Behind law was enacted in 2002.
A task force of 42 people was organized in 2008 by the DPI to help the state develop a "balanced assessment system that would go beyond annual, large-scale testing like the WKCE," Evers said.
Jennifer Thayer, DPI Division for Reading and Student Achievement assistant state superintendent, said the state still plans to phase out the test, but it will take a while.
"The timeline is going to be longer than initially anticipated due to a national effort to improve assessments," she said.
Thayer said $350 million has been set aside as part of the Race to the Top for a group of states to develop new assessments. The consortium submitted an application in June for federal money, Thayer said. It should know in September if it will receive funding to develop a new test.