Many districts, including Worthington schools, had planned to request paper tests by this Monday because that's the deadline for districts to request testing supplies that they might have forgotten to order earlier in the year. Some wanted to make the switch to paper based on evidence they've seen that districts that tested online last year did worse on state report cards than those using paper and pencil.
"The actual deadline (for a switch) was Jan. 11," said Worthington Superintendent Trent Bowers. " But that was before any of us had seen our results."
Worthington, which tested students entirely online last year, received four F grades on state report-card measures where it had gotten four A's a year earlier. Bowers said the district had asked the department this week about switching to paper and was awaiting an answer.
"Here at Worthington, we believe that either everyone tests online or everyone tests paper-pencil," Bowers said. But the dual platform testing isn't working, he said.
Department of Education spokeswoman Brittany Halpin couldn't confirm that the districts were told no to paper tests on Wednesday, but she said in a statement: "Districts and schools selected their preferred testing method — how many tests they were provided electronically vs. paper — in October, so the state could work with its vendor to supply necessary paper tests in time for spring testing." That can begin as early as April and run into May.
Halpin also disputed that there was any difference between the two testing formats. "After extensive review, highly credentialed teams of experts, from leading universities and organizations such as NASA, validated that the state's online tests and written exams are comparable — with no advantage offered by either mode of testing over the other."
>> See a comparison of questions on the paper test and the online test (PDF)
South-Western and Groveport Madison schools likewise had been considering a move away from online testing, according to their spokesmen.
Districts wanting to make the switch to paper started after Michael Molnar, an admininistrator for Amherst schools near Cleveland, surveyed all 610 traditional districts in early March. He made a database online of the 455 who answered, including their value-added grades for 2014-15 and whether they had tested online or on paper.
Among districts using paper tests, he found that 85 percent got an A for their overall value-added grade, which measures how many fourth- through eighth-graders progressed during the year. Among districts that tested online, 17 percent got an A on value-added while 62 percent got an F.
Not every district is moving away from online testing. Whitehall schools are committed to it, said spokesman Ty Debevoise. The district tested all students online last spring and saw a drop in grades similar to Worthington's: It earned four F's for 2014-15 but had two A's, a B and a C for 2013-14.
Pickerington and New Albany-Plain schools both say they are testing online to the extent that they did last year. Hilliard schools will test three grade levels online, up from one previously. Westerville schools are moving to testing all grade levels online this year.
©2016 The Columbus Dispatch (Columbus, Ohio), distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
