BLAIR LEE III, Acting Governor

3033

In accordance with Article II, Section 17 of the
Maryland Constitution, I have today vetoed Senate Bill 281.

This bill, effective July 1, 1979, requires that, as a
part of the Education Accountability Program, a national
standardized test be administered to students in grades 3,
5, 7, and 9.

At the present time, the Iowa Test of Basic Skills, a
nationally normed test, is required by the State Board of
Education to be administered to students in grades 3, 5, and
7. After extensive deliberation and discussion, the Board
decided recently to eliminate the administration of this
test to 9th graders and to replace it with the Maryland
Functional Reading Test. The basis of that decision is that
this reading test focuses on the reading skills necessary to
function as an adult and, at the 9th grade level, the
testing of that skill is a more important educational
concern than the identification of general student
weaknesses through the administration of the Iowa Test.

The preamble to Senate Bill 281 notes the decision of
the State Department of Education in this regard and states
that a national standardized test is more comprehensive than
a special functional exam and ought not to be discontinued
for 9th graders- However, Senate Bill 281 goes further then
that stated intention. It mandates that a national
standardized test be given to students in grades 3, 5, 7,
and 9.

It is the duty of the State Board of Education to
decide upon the most appropriate and effective means of
testing students at each grade level. That duty has been
entrusted to the Board by the General Assembly. A national
standardized test is currently administered to students in
grades 3, 5, and 7. Such a test may prove, in the future,
to be less effective than another type of test. Certainly
such test cannot be used as the exclusive measure of
evaluating educational accountability. In any event, a
statutory mandate that a particular test be administered to
students at certain grade levels destroys the flexibility
which the State and local boards of education must have in
order to most effectively evaluate the educational progress
of the students entrusted to their care.

In addition, Senate Bill 281, consistent with its
preamble, mandates the use of a nationally normed test for
9th graders. This test would be in addition to the
Functional Reading Test currently being administered to
these students. At some point, I believe that the
overtesting of students becomes counterproductive. More
important, sufficient time should be allowed to the
Department of Education to evaluate the effectiveness of the
Maryland Functional Beading Test for these 9th graders.