The legislation would do nothing to stop the state from administering the Minnesota Basic Skills Test. It only says that when we are making decisions that will have a profound effect on a student's life, such as whether or not the student graduates from high school, we should do it in the most responsible way. This means that in addition to looking at the test results, schools also should look at additional measures of student achievement to be sure that the test scores accurately reflect what students know.
Test taking and scoring are highly susceptible to error.
Using more than one measure of student achievement is a way to ensure that you do not deny a diploma to someone who has achieved enough to graduate, but for some reason did not pass the test. It gives a better sense of how a child is doing. Both the National Research Council and professional standards for educational testing, as well as standardized test makers themselves, indicate that a standardized test is not valid enough or reliable enough to be the only thing used when making high stakes decisions about students. This amendment would only require states to do what science, professional standards and test makers themselves tell us is valid and reliable. A. Minnesota could still require students to take the test, and passing the test could still be a major way that students can show that they are prepared to graduate.