HI HCR37

Urges the Board of Education and Department of Education to reduce standardized testing in Hawaii's public education system and replace it with authentic assessments promoting critical thinking and project-based learning.

Cites findings that 85 percent of Hawaii school principals surveyed in July 2016 agreed that instructional time spent on standardized test preparation should be reduced, and 91 percent of teachers felt the State should consider changes to its testing program.

Notes that Hawaii's Department of Education has active contracts with third-party testing entities totaling approximately $60,000,000 and that teachers spend an average of 30 percent of their time on standardized testing-related tasks.

Urges the Board of Education to amend policies so that standardized testing will not be used to evaluate the performance of teachers or educational officers.

References the federal Every Student Succeeds Act, which provides states flexibility to limit standardized testing and implement alternative assessment systems, and notes President Barack Obama's 2015 call to limit test preparation to no more than 2 percent of instructional time.