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Ohio House OKs bill to limit hours students spend taking tests
By Marc Kovac
COLUMBUS
The Ohio House has passed legislation aimed at cutting down the number of hours students spend taking standardized tests.
HB 228 moved on a bipartisan vote of 88-4 and heads to the Ohio Senate for further consideration.
Among other provisions, the legislation would limit testing times for each subject assessment to four hours per year, with exemptions for special-needs students or those subject to alternative assessments.
The limits also would not apply to the third-grade reading guarantee, advanced placement testing and some other assessments.
The changes would take effect in the 2015-16 school year.
Reps. Andrew Brenner, R-Powell, said students are currently facing 22 to 30 hours of testing under state-required end-of-course exams.
Under HB 228, that total would decrease to 12 to 16 hours, cutting the number of required hours in half, Brenner said.
“We’re doing this because we’ve heard of problems in school districts being able to implement the number of tests and the hours that are required for practice tests, for other types of assessments that are going on in schools,” Brenner said. “We felt that this was a requirement that was needed to try to rein some of those tests in and tell the Department of Education that we felt that this should be the maximum amount of hours.”
The legislation also would require state education officials to gauge schools’ readiness for conducting testing online, with a report due back to lawmakers in mid-2015.
“My office has been contacted by numerous constituents increasingly frustrated with the volume of testing and test preparation,” said Rep. Teresa Fedor, D-Toledo.