The School District of Lee County reported that it will test students less this year.

“I am so encouraged by knowing that you aren’t taking a step back from assessing, but evolving with the way that education is moving,” Board Member Jada Langford-Fleming said at the Aug. 6 briefing session.

Interim Superintendent Dr. Ken Savage said assessments are a critical aspect of how to provide information through the teaching process. It is essential that they always understand what evidence students can give of what they know and understand.

“You cannot teach, really, without informing that process,” he said. “In fact, we engineer our instruction on that students can demonstrate significant evidence.”

Savage explained there is a delicate balance between the time it takes to access and the time it takes to help students learn. The district needs to take the time needed to deeply review every assessment it offers to students. This will afford it the opportunity to identify specific assessment paths and find an alternative method, if needed.

“It’s essential that teachers and parents understand that every time we assess students it is with great purpose,” he said.

One of the things Savage heard last year was there were significant errors with assessments — assessments that in some cases showed multiple choice answers with multiple correct answers.

“Both answers were correct, and it negatively impacted student’s grades. The number of assessments that had significant flaws was over 30. To say there is an opportunity for improvement is an understatement,” he said. “If they were given a test that is flawed or not aligned with standard benchmarks, it is a problem that we have to address.”

Continuous Improvement Coordinator Erin Groeneveld said overall the district will test less this school year. Notable changes are the removal of comprehensive assessments in elementary and high school. Also, the district is limiting exemplars for no more than three per quarter per subject area.

There also will be a change from iReady diagnostic to flexible iReady assessment to select students.

Chief Academic Officer Nathan Shaker said middle school will not use the iReady program. The program is primarily for elementary school students.

For this year, the only students who would take diagnostic testing for iReady would be incoming kindergarten students or those new to the district. In years past, students would take an assessment or diagnostic test for iReady two or three times a year to reset the learning path.

He said students will not have to take the iReady diagnostic this year, as they will use the same path they had last year.

“They will take the flexible assessment at the school’s discretion,” Shaker said.

An intervention program that teachers use, iReady is computer based with the expectation to have students do 45 minutes a week in reading and math.

“It does provide us with a source of data of how the students are progressing,” he said.

Savage said iReady can be used as an intervention piece, as it drills down to specific benchmarks and standards, providing a customized learning path. It also provides teachers with specific tools of how to utilize benchmarks in small groups.

“It’s really understanding how to utilize that particular system for school learning,” he said.

The school district may not schedule by grade level more than 5% of student total school minutes in a year to administer state, standardized or district assessments. It is below the 5% for all grade levels.