Putnam School Director Said State Testing Unnecessary

Putnam County Director of Schools Corby King said state testing is unnecessary for Putnam County.

King said the school system has enough in house assessments to gauge where students stand academically.

“We benchmark tests in our system throughout the school year,” King said. “We actually have three formal benchmarks. We use NWEA Map Testing to do that. I think we can use that data and make effective instructional decision around that data.”

Governor Bill Lee and Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn in October called for legislation to suspend accountability measures for state student assessments. At the time, Lee said he still believed state testing would be a helpful tool. King said finding any validity through these assessments would be difficult due to the environment of this school year.

Assessment protocols have not changed. King said students are still required to take end of course exams and the ACT in person.