'Kids Should be Kids': Bill Prohibiting Standardized Testing for Younger Students Passes Assembly

A bill sponsored by New Jersey Assemblywoman BettyLou DeCroce (R-Morris, Essex, Passaic) to prohibit standardized testing for students in lower grades was approved by the state assembly this week.

The bill, A-3079, would prohibit commercially-developed standardized testing for students in grades kindergarten through two. It does not, however, stop evaluations being administered and scored by teachers or individual school districts.

“Children in the early grades should spend as much class time as possible learning the fundamentals of reading, math and social skills,” DeCroce said in a statement. “These years are crucial for forming the foundation for future education. Instead of testing them to collect data, we should allow kids to be kids.”

DeCroce continued, saying, “There is, I believe, a credible concern among parents and educators that I have spoken to that there is too much emphasis in our schools on testing and not enough on teaching – especially in the lower grades.”

The first round of PARCC (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers) testing in New Jersey just wrapped up its first week of being administered, and while most students in the state required to take the test did so, there was a groundswell of kickback from students and parents across the state.

PARCC was administered to students in grades three through eight in place of the formerly used NJASK, and to students in high school, replacing the formerly used HSPA testing.

DeCroce’s bill will now head to the state senate for consideration.

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