VARC's Brad Carl Comments on School Accountability Legislation
JANUARY 2015
A new bill proposed in the Wisconsin State Assembly - the first of the 2015-2017 legislative session - was introduced Wednesday and aims to make significant changes to the way the state handles low-performing public schools.
The Wisconsin State Journal published an article on the bill, which discusses the changes the bill proposes at length. The articled quoted Carl, VARC’s associate director, who was asked to respond to the legislation’s request that VARC provide a list of alternative tests “appropriate for statistical comparison with examinations adopted or approved by the state superintendent of public.”
The article quotes Carl as saying, “While it’s possible to do that, the most accurate way to compare test takers is to have all students taking the same test on the same academic standards.”
VARC told the State Journal that “It would likely be inappropriate for the center to provide a list of tests for the board, and [would be] preferable to have a group determine comparability among tests before asking the center to equate the results,” according to the article.