By JOYANNA LOVE/ Senior Staff Writer

State standardized testing will look different for Chilton County students and all public education students in Alabama next year.

During a June 21 meeting, the Alabama State Board of Education voted to not renew the contract with testing company ACT ASPIRE.

“The major concern for us is having something that measures clear and concise data for increasing student achievement,” Chilton County Schools Superintendent Tommy Glasscock said.  “After adding a new division of Teaching and Learning under the direction of Mrs. Ashlie Harrison, we are confident that we will act quickly to inform our schools about the new direction and be prepared to react. We are optimistic that the state board and State Superintendent [of Education Michael] Sentance will provide the resources needed in a timely manner to establish a true system of measurement as we move forward.”

A letter to school superintendents from Sentance states that a request for bids will be held in the “near future that will outline the requirements for a long-term summation and formative assessment provider.”

The U.S. Department of Education will still require standardized testing next school year, despite a new contract not being finalized.  ALSDE has chosen “to utilize an existing provider, Scantron, to help bridge the gap to the 2018-2019 school year.”

Harrison said teachers are familiar with Scantron because it is already used to gauge student progress.

“We currently use the Scantron assessment in our schools as a tool for our teachers to measure the progress of their students throughout the year,” Harrison said. “The students take the assessment at the beginning, middle, and end of the school year. The assessment is aligned to our state standards.”

Specifics on how the Scantron state test will be given has not been released by ALSDE, yet.

As far as how the test will be given, the ALSDE has not released that information yet.