By Charlotte Matherly, contributor
When county schools piloted a new format for standardized testing in its world geography classes, pass rates skyrocketed.
For some in Rockingham County, the rise of the pass rate from 76% to 93% in just one year was a symbol of success. The new assessments, often referred to as the “inquiry design model,” measured critical thinking skills over basic knowledge.
Weighing whether to expand that model to fourth-grade Virginia studies and eighth-grade civics and economics, school board member Hollie Cave wasn’t convinced the scores were a good sign. She said she worries the jump reflects something different: that style of testing “diluting” its rigor.
“It seems subjective rather than objective,” Cave said. “Those multiple-choice questions, like they have a right answer.”
Yielding to Cave’s concerns, the school board voted unanimously to table the vote to an unspecified date. The so-called “local assessments” are enabled by a new Virginia law, which allows school districts to use questions that aim to drive student engagement and curiosity rather than cut-and-dry memorization.
The assessments are then graded by other teachers across the school district. They’re also given more often — three times a year — which officials told the school board in April gives students multiple opportunities to improve.
Sara Horst, the board chair and a former teacher, said she was leaning toward approving the new format for those classes. Multiple-choice tests, she said, are more of a snapshot than a true indicator of a student’s understanding and intelligence.
“Maybe they stayed up late that night. Maybe they didn’t have a good breakfast. Maybe they weren’t in the right frame of mind. That one snapshot says it’s a fail … but is that the real portrait of that child?” Horst said.
“I don’t believe that saying yes to local assessments lowers our standard for that kid because I think that kid probably should have passed and would pass on another day,” she added. “We’re just recognizing that a single test on a single day is not always the best measure of what a student knows and is able to do.”
Cave floated the idea of having the school district keep its current test format but use inquiry-based learning as a classroom tool, an idea Hilary Irons said she was interested in hearing more about.
Superintendent Larry Shifflett said the assessment’s benefit can depend on the nature of the subject. The county would still employ multiple-choice tests for reading, math and science, he said, but a more “holistic” approach can be beneficial for more analytical subjects like social studies.
That way, teachers still provide direct instruction, he said, but students have more agency in the process. For example, rather than a multiple-choice question that asks whether Thomas Jefferson was good or evil, Shifflett said the new model would ask how Jefferson should be remembered, allowing students the runway to explore his life and build an argument.
“Students are now more involved with the process themselves and trying to figure some things out as they go,” Shifflett said.
Local assessments are an opt-in policy under state law, so the school board is under no deadline to decide. If they don’t pass it in time for this school year, it can still be adopted later on.
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