Ritz advocates for better learning, not just high-stakes tests

“We need to get back to the purpose of assessment, which is to see how our children are doing,” Ritz said during an interview Wednesday with the Tribune-Star’s editorial board.

In an hour-long, wide-ranging session, Ritz — a Democrat seeking a second term against two GOP challengers — offered her wish list for aspects of Indiana’s new assessment and advocated for broader investment in pre-K education.

She also pointedly criticized Republican Gov. Mike Pence — her frequent sparring partner — for “showboating” with initiatives she claimed don’t go far enough to address issues like access to preschool.

“I feel our governor has a political agenda for schools,” Ritz said. “I have an education agenda for our schools. Therein lies the difference.”

She alluded to the difficult relationship while discussing the formation of a 23-member panel charged with probing alternate testing options. Ritz said she wrote Pence asking to be a member of the panel, arguing she should serve at least as co-chair.

Ritz is on the committee. Pence will appoint someone to chair the panel, which is still being formed. The committee was created by the same legislation that repeals ISTEP+ in July 2017, which Pence signed last month.

Members have a December deadline for making recommendations to the governor and the General Assembly. The new assessment, which must align with the state’s existing learning standards, will debut in the 2017-18 school year.

To better gauge academic performance over time, Ritz said each student should not receive the same questions at the same time. The new test should also include a large bank of questions and be designed so that it can provide immediate feedback on results.

Addressing the pressures the current testing model creates in a high-stakes environment — with scores being tied to a school’s accountability grade — Ritz said there is too much testing.

She said the state should consider that dynamic from a student perspective. Ritz recalled the moment, as an elementary school library media specialist in Indianapolis, when she decided to pursue public office.

A student who performed well on her I-READ3 exam — which is designed to ensure children meet fundamental reading skills before fourth grade — told Ritz she didn’t need to check out a book that day because of her test score.

“And I said, what have we done to the children [is created a situation] where they think that the act of reading is for the sake of taking a test,” she said.

Before taking office, Ritz formed Hoosier Family of Readers, an online platform providing access to thousands of online books families are encouraged to read at home.

But she also wants to see the new assessment measure reading standards. As head of the state’s public schools, Ritz said she “can’t tell you the reading levels of any of the kids in the state of Indiana.”

“And I consider reading to be the most important measurement that we can do,” she said. “An indicator of success of school.”

On the subject of pre-K education, Ritz said the saddest day of her term was in 2014, when Pence declined to apply for $80 million in federal funding for low-income preschool programs.

At the time, Pence contended availability of funding didn’t guarantee successful initiatives, and might have complicated the state’s own pilot program for income-eligible 4-year-olds.

The pilot program, On My Way Pre-K, launched in five counties last year. While Ritz praised its objective, she said its scope wasn’t broad enough.

The Indiana Department of Education is moving forward, she said, to expand preschool opportunities statewide.

“I don’t need anybody’s permission to start to make sure that every public school district in the state of Indiana has pre-K programs,” she said.

IDOE is looking at how to distribute Title I funds to schools with large numbers of students living in poverty, she said, as well as determining which areas need pre-K programs that don’t already offer them.