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Malloy Aims To Cut Standardized Tests For Ridgefield's 11th-Graders

FAIRFIELD COUNTY, Conn. — The Malloy administration is taking two actions to help reduce the time that Connecticut students spend taking standardized tests, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy announced. 

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In a letter to U.S. Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan, Malloy asked the federal government to consider how the number of high-stakes exams in Grade 11 could be reduced.  

“I am eager to explore solutions for the students who may be our most over-tested: our 11-graders,” Malloy said in the letter. 

Under federal law, Connecticut must administer end-of-year tests to all students in Grades 3 to 8 and once in high school.  As part of its transition to college and career-ready standards, Connecticut’s high school test was moved from Grade 10 to Grade 11. 

Although administering the test in Grade 11 provides better information on a student’s learning in high school, it also adds to 11-graders’ already crowded schedule of high-stakes tests. 

To explore what can be done under existing federal law, Malloy will bring together a Connecticut working group, as well as confer with the U.S. Department of Education, to examine promising possibilities to lessen the test burden for Grade 11 students.

“Tests are essential tools that teachers and principals use to inform important decisions around a student learning and instruction. However, tests have the potential to sometimes be duplicative or outdated,” said Malloy. “We must adapt with the changing times, and this approach will allow us to do that.”

Spring semester’s 11th grade tests include college placement exams (typically the SAT or ACT), subject-matter tests such as the Advanced Placement exams and SAT subject matter tests, and end-of-course exams administered by the school – all in addition to the required test for federal accountability developed by the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium.

One potential avenue for alleviating the burden on the 11th-graders would be to examine whether a college entrance exam, such as the SAT, could satisfy the federally mandated high school exam. 

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