Dade Schools Eliminate More Tests This Year

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MIAMI (CBSMiami) - A common complaint among some parents is that there is too much testing at their child's school and teachers are spending too much time teaching for the test and not enough time teaching.

Well, Miami-Dade Public Schools is trying to change that. Since 2014, they've gotten rid of hundreds of tests given to students over the course of the school year.

Wednesday morning they took another stride. Superintendent Alberto Carvalho and the School Board announced that they were eliminating a dozen exams for the 2016-2017 school year.

"We are taking off the docket 12 assessments, restoring an additional 185 minutes of time, teaching time, back to the classroom," said Carvalho.

The tests being cut are the mid-year interim assessments for Grades 3-8 in English Language Arts and Mathematics.

"This announcement restores dignity to the classroom and allows teachers to know that we are partnering with them to educate our children," said School Board member Dr. Dorothy Bendross-Mindingall.

The School Board put on Twitter that getting rid of them was best for the students.

Not going to lead our way to excellence through assessment, but through expert teaching, student support systems. pic.twitter.com/70XIcpEvRP

— Miami Dade Schools (@MDCPS) September 7, 2016

The school district had a really good 2015 to 2016 school year with a high percentage of A rated schools and a higher graduation rate in the state.

School Board members said they will continue to look at assessments and work on eliminating over-testing.