Wiger's College and Career Readiness Testing Bill Scheduled for Hearing in the Senate

A bill that seeks to ensure high school graduates are ready for college or the workforce is scheduled to get a hearing in the Minnesota Senate Education Committee Monday.
The bill, SF143, authored by Sen. Chuck Wiger, puts standard, statewide end-of-course exams in place for algebra and biology, and creates an exam to measure 10th-graders’ reading, writing and literacy skills.

“The bottom line is talking about what are the expectations in a high school diploma?” said Wiger (DFL-Maplewood). “We say the expectation is that you’re college and career ready.”

Creating standard, statewide end-of-course exams is a growing trend nationwide, said Dirk Mattson, director of research and assessment for the Minnesota Department of Education.

“It’s designed to make the assessment process a little more coherent,” Mattson said. “They’re intended to put the stakes on the course and make the assessment more integrated with a course as opposed to being an entity that exists outside of a course.”

Test results would be required to make up 25 percent of a student’s overall grade in the course, under the bill. By collecting data to look at the correlation of test performance with overall course grades, the bill’s requirements would expose and prevent grade inflation, according to a fact sheet on the bill from Wiger’s office.

Mattson said he didn’t think the standard end-of-course tests would change course content because the state already has standards on what topics those courses should cover.

Mattson called focusing on science and math “forward thinking,” because he said more and more literature is saying that educating students now in science, technology, engineering and mathematics is going to be key to making the state economically competitive in the future.

Increased testing of 10th-graders’ language arts skills is also a key part of the bill.

Although students already take a standardized writing test, this bill would change the test and raise the bar for passing.

Minnesota’s current writing test was first used in 1998, and it was established as a basic skills test—a minimum competency standard—rather than a standard based on the level of proficiency needed to be successful in college or work, Mattson said.

“Even if the standard were set back in 1998 as a college and career readiness benchmark, mostly likely that would have to be revisited,” because 13 years have passed, he said. “As the world becomes flatter, mostly likely that would increase in rigor.”

The new requirements would apply to public school students who enter eighth grade in the 2011-2012 school year, or later, according to the bill’s text.
At the hearing Monday, the Senate Education Committee is also scheduled to hear a similar bill by Sen. Sean Nienow (R-Cambridge), which Wiger co-sponsored. The bill is also aimed at determining that high school graduates are ready for college and careers, and its provisions are similar to those in Wiger’s bill.

Here’s what’s happened this past week with other bills authored or co-authored by your legislators:

Sen. Chuck Wiger—Co-sponsored a bill that establishes rules for video lottery ticket dispensers. SF1116, introduced April 7.