[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 11 (Wednesday, January 26, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E134]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  INTRODUCTION OF THE ASSESSMENT ACCURACY AND IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2011

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                          HON. THOMAS E. PETRI

                              of wisconsin

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, January 26, 2011

  Mr. PETRI. Mr. Speaker, as Congress considers the reauthorization of 
the No Child Left Behind Act this year, we have an obligation to listen 
closely to the students, parents, and educators that we represent to 
ensure that our efforts result in responsible and pragmatic 
improvements. While we have made great strides in the areas of 
assessment and accountability over the last nine years, this 
reauthorization provides a critical opportunity to learn from our 
experiences and fine-tune the law.
  One example of a lesson my constituents have learned, and have 
vigorously shared with me, is that we should be encouraging states to 
move towards better assessment models. As I have met with educators 
over the past several years, one of the primary concerns that I have 
heard is that the state assessment fails to provide information of 
value to educators and administrators. Even more disturbing, it often 
takes four to six months before scores are returned to schools, which 
leaves little or no time for teachers to use the information to address 
student performance before they advance to the next grade.
  However, I believe there is a sensible solution that Congress can 
adopt to address these concerns and give states more options in 
assessment design. Today, Rep. David Wu and I are introducing the 
bipartisan Assessment Accuracy and Improvement Act of 2011 to give 
states the option to use adaptive testing as their statewide assessment 
measuring reading, math, and science to fulfill No Child Left Behind 
requirements. I believe that this legislation will give states the 
ability to truly track the academic growth of every child and provide 
more accurate information to teachers, parents and school 
administrators through the use of an adaptive test.
  For those who may be unfamiliar with adaptive testing, it is a test 
that changes in response to previously-asked questions. For example, if 
a student answers a question correctly, the test presents a question of 
increased difficulty. If a student answers incorrectly, the test 
presents a question of decreased difficulty. As you can see, an 
adaptive test customizes itself to a student's actual level of 
performance with a great degree of accuracy.
  Giving states the flexibility to use an adaptive test and to ask 
questions outside of grade level will improve the accuracy of student 
assessment and enable educators to target appropriate instruction for 
each child based on performance at, above, or below grade level. In 
addition, using an adaptive test over time will allow accurate 
measurement of the performance growth of each individual student.
  In Wisconsin, hundreds of school districts currently use their own 
funds to participate in adaptive testing in addition to the state 
assessment required by NCLB. Educators and administrators appreciate 
the diagnostic information it yields and the efficiency that it 
provides. I believe that school districts nationally are already 
``speaking with their wallets'' by spending scarce resources to 
voluntarily participate in this testing because it provides valuable 
information that the state assessment does not.
  Additionally, 30 states are currently participating in the Smarter 
Balanced Assessment Consortium, SBAC, one of the two state assessment 
consortia to receive funding under Race to the Top. SBAC is developing 
a researched-based computer adaptive test aligned to the common core 
standards. This legislation will ensure that these states will be able 
to fully utilize the capabilities of this next assessment.
  Mr. Speaker, adaptive testing is one of the keys to putting the 
`child' back into No Child Left Behind. I hope that our colleagues will 
join us in this pragmatic and responsible improvement to the law as we 
work towards a bipartisan reauthorization this year.

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