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  Senate takes steps to end PACT Testing in SC schools web posted May 16, 2008 COLUMBIA – Across South Carolina, students began taking the PACT test this week. The PACT is an expensive and outdated test that lacks the child-specific diagnostic data required by teachers. Unlike tests used in other states, PACT is South Carolina specific, and doesn't provide educators with a comparison of our schools to regional and national test scores. Lawmakers and educatorshave long agreed that PACT ought to be replaced, but Superintendent Jim Rex (D), who campaigned on a promise to reform assessment in 2006, has been unwilling to make the change. Instead, Rex is working with Bob Walker(R) of Spartanburg to push through a controversial bill, dramatically weakening South Carolina's precedent setting accountability laws. Thankfully, members of the South Carolina Senate have called Rex's bluff. Thursday, Senators reached an agreement on an amended version of the House Bill, which includes specific language eliminating the PACT in July of 2008. "Eliminating the PACT this year frees the state to move forward on a new accountability system," explained Senator Greg Ryberg, Republican from Aiken. Unlike the House version, the Senate is not looking for the Legislature to micromanage the testing process. Senators made it clear: responsibility for creation and administration of assessment belongs with the State Department of Education, the State Board of Education, and the Education Oversight Committee. Writing to an open letter to Jim Rex earlier this month, SenatorKevin Bryant (R) of Anderson expressed frustration about the fact that Superintendent Rex was unwilling to replace PACT on his own. "The department you administer holds the responsibility for the PACT test and might have as early as January 2007, begun the elimination of the PACT, but instead decided to extend the PACT for another year (2008). I remain frustrated as to this series of decisions." While Rex initially responded to calls from Bryant and others with more political posturing, final passage of this Senate bill will force him into action.The Senate bill also prevents an unnecessary expansion of standardized testing for first and second grade students, children most experts agree won't benefit from this type of assessment. South Carolina's students deserve an effective test. With a 47 percent high school graduation rate and 49th placed SAT scores, it is clear that public schools require an accountability system that helps teachers do their job. Private schools in South Carolina, and public schools in other states, have found commercially developed tests such as Stanford 10, Iowa Test of Skills, MAP, and Terra Nova can do just that. Moving to an existing standardized test would also save millions of dollars in assessment spending, ensuring more money reaches the classroom for instruction. ©
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