Tucson Unified signs agreement to reduce standardized testing

The Tucson Unified School District is reducing the amount of standardized tests its students take throughout the year.

The Tucson Education Association (TEA) is the union representing educators in the city’s largest school district. Its members collected more than 1,200 signatures from educators and families who wanted to see more "meaningful learning rather than endless tests."

Flori Huitt is the district's assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction at the district. She said TUSD finalized an agreement with the union to do just that.

“Because were under a desegregation order that we just got out of, we had additional assessments that maybe other districts didn’t have," Huitt said. "We are trying to be very cautious and just very conscientious about the decisions we make for our students and our teachers.”

Students will still be required to take statewide exams like the AZELLA for English language learners, but the district is doing away with quarterly benchmark assessments.

“Some students have a lot of test anxiety, so this will help reduce that and we can focus more on the instructional time ensuring that our students are making progress toward the standards and skill mastery," Huitt said. "So that’ll be good for us.”