Tester tells Education Department to Help Reduce Testing Burden

After voting to give Montanans more power to reduce the number of standardized tests students take, Senator Jon Tester wants to make sure that these education reforms are implemented properly.

The Senator, who taught and served on the school board in Big Sandy, is now calling on the Education Department to assist states as they try to eliminate duplicative tests.

“Our education system relies too heavily on testing to the detriment of our students,” Tester wrote to Acting Secretary of Education John King.  “We need to ensure testing does not distract from good instruction and that it takes up a limited amount of time.”

While Every Student Succeeds Act did not include Tester’s bill to reduce federally mandated tests, it did provide additional flexibility to local districts to reduce the testing burden.