Avon School Board Reviews Test, Research Paper Policy

Last year, a parent came to the Avon Board of Education's Policy Committee with a concern that their child was not able to take home a test. 

"We received a flurry of emails from other parents with similar concern," Katharine Zirolli, school board and Policy Committee member, said.

The committee went to work on revising the policy and the entire school board did a first read of Policy 5080 at its Sept. 17 meeting.

The revisions address what tests and research papers should be returned to students to take home.

 "Our goal is to ensure that tests, research papers, and tests includes quizzes, so the graded assessments, are an integral part of education and trying to make sure it's clear that those tests and research papers that are graded will be returned to the students and the students may maintain those tests," Zirolli said. 

The Tests and Research Papers policy was first adopted on March 18, 1986, affirmed in 1998 and last amended in 2007. 

The policy deems tests and research papers "an integral part of the educational program" and "essential tools used to assess student learning, the curriculum and instruction." It states that "testing should be planned and relevant to the instruction and learning objectives delineated in the district's approved curriculum" and that research papers "should provide an opportunity for students to demonstrate their understanding of the subject matter through their writing, critical thinking and research skills." 

Changes suggested by the Policy Committee seek to "be really clear that certain things such as standardized assessment measures, commonly referred to as benchmark assessments," like the Connecticut Mastery Test and Degrees of Reading Power exams, will be reviewed at parent-teacher conferences.

"The student doesn't take those and you don't need those because they're not utilized per se on a test," Zirolli said. "Rather tests, quizzes, research papers will be things that will later be seen on any kind of exam or summary test."

In the past, Avon students have not been permitted to take home select district assessments as a practice, but parents have been welcomed to come to the school to review those with their child's educator.

"Part of the conversation the Policy Committee heard was that there was a practice taking place where certain teachers weren't giving these," Zirolli said. "Maybe some were, some weren't. Our goal is to make sure all teachers realize they are to return the tests to the students as soon as they're graded."

The goals of the policy under revision serve to "make it clear that the board intends that all tests, quizzes, research papers be returned to the student in a timely manner and the students allowed to maintain them" and that "any other practice would not be supported," Zirolli said. 

The board will read through the suggested revisions again before voting on the policy revisions.