Va. education leaders consider scrapping 3rd grade history assessment

Don’t mess with the test.

That was the message this morning for the Virginia Board of Education, which is considering scrapping the third grade history/social studies assessment that covers material from kindergarten through third grade.

State educators say the content would be incorporated into the third grade reading assessment, but the board voted today to have staff develop a timeline showing how they would proceed and to explain exactly how the material would be woven together.

Some board members expressed concern that the social studies material would not actually be covered and they want assurances that teachers will still teach the content—a range from how maps display information to the impact of European exploration on American Indians.

Social studies administrators, special-interest groups and a former legislator pleaded with members to keep the test, arguing that Virginia’s assessment system means that material that students are tested on will inevitably be given more instruction time.

“If it ain’t tested, it ain’t taught,“ said former Del. James. H. Dillard, II, who chaired the House Education Committee.

“Obviously that’s hyperbole, obviously social studies will be taught even if you make the, what I think is, grave mistake of eliminating this test but every empirical study that’s been done . . . [has] shown that if it’s not tested you’re going to have less emphasis in that particular area,“ he said.

And less emphasis means less time for teachers to be creative, he said, as attention shifts to the tested material.

State Superintendent of Instruction Patricia I. Wright said yesterday that she doesn’t make the recommendation lightly, having helped to build the Standards of Learning reform.

“I can tell you the last thing I want to do is unravel the accountability system. I take a lot of pride in it,“ she said.

She said it’s about moving toward a new vision of assessment especially while facing economic challenges.

“I don’t ever want to minimize the importance of history and social science, civics and economics,“ she said, adding, “I also have a budget to manage.“

For more information, read tomorrow’s Richmond Times-Dispatch.

—Olympia Meola