ALBANY — Some standardized tests in state public schools will be eliminated, state Education Commissioner John King has told superintendents in a surprising announcement that cites “a variety of pressures” that may have hurt instruction.
The first target will be an eighth-grade math test, which comes at the same time as a federally required standardized test in math, King wrote in a letter sent Thursday.
The Board of Regents is considering eliminating that test and others where possible in other grades, King said. Some tests, however, are required by the federal government. Grants will be provided to help school districts reduce local standardized tests, the letter states.
King wrote that education officials “recognize that a variety of pressures at the state and local level may have resulted in more testing than is needed and in rote test preparation that crowds out quality instruction.”
The move came after an outcry over testing and teacher evaluations linked to the results, which peaked when King was shouted down by critics at an Oct. 10 forum in Poughkeepsie.