The Hamilton County School Board will vote next month on whether to reduce the number of benchmark tests it administers to students.¶
Local districts may require students to take tests beyond those required by the state, and these benchmarks help educators track student progress. Hamilton County Schools currently requires three a year.¶
District leadership is recommending cutting that to two benchmark tests for state-assessed subjects for the 2026-2027 school year, which would mean there would be no benchmarks for kindergarten through second grades.¶
One Test Versus Two
Some board members argued for administering only one benchmark test, saying that would reduce the burden on the district and allow for more flexibility in the future.¶
Board member Steve Slater was among them, saying he reviewed all the tests the district administers to students during a school year, including various “snapshot” tests, some of which have multiple parts. He expressed concern that students were being tested too much and that some tests weren’t of high enough quality to administer.¶
“On the fall ELA (English-Language Arts) and Reading test, there were 17 errors found,” Slater said. “And this is all in addition to classroom chapter exams and other class tests. We’re testing these poor kids way too much.”¶
Board member Karitsa Jones pushed back against calls to cut local benchmarks significantly. Jones said that she used to be skeptical of frequent standardized testing and believed her generation got by well enough without it as students, but her perspective changed after seeing her young son’s assessment scores over time. She explained that when his scores dropped, his educators used the testing information to adjust his instruction and provide targeted support, which significantly improved his reading performance.¶
“While I do feel like it is a lot of tests at times, and I do feel like I didn't have all those tests, and I turned out just fine, I am very thankful for the tests, because (they) showed me that if they were not assessing him, then that could have slipped through the cracks, and we could have been dealing with that on the back end,” Jones said. “So, I think we need to find a healthy balance.”¶
By policy, the board has to approve the testing schedule by next month.¶
Legislative Context
Hamilton County’s moves to reduce local testing follow recent actions by state lawmakers.¶
The General Assembly passed legislation in April that requires all public schools to submit an annual list of local assessments administered to students to the Department of Education.¶
