Legislation from state Representative Brad Paquette that will allow Michigan high school students to opt out of the workforce-readiness portion of the state’s standardized testing process has been signed into law by Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
Paquette tells us when he was a teacher, his students used to tell him the ACT Workkeys test was pointless, and he could see why.
“And like some of the questions on the test are, for instance, there’s like a remote control and it’s asking where the mute button is, A, B, C, D,” Paquette said. “And you have to just pick and there’s little lines going there. You know, C points to the mute button and you have to choose that. So a lot of kids didn’t find use in it.”
Paquette says the test was ostensibly to help employers get a better idea of how prepared for the workplace a given student might be. However, many students and parents view it as a waste of time.
The bill Paquette introduced with Democratic state Senator Dayna Polehanki was a compromise between those who wanted the test to be given to students and those who wanted to eliminate it altogether. He says this brings the former group on board.
“We had some legislators that were trying to remove it completely, entirely in the past. They said that some employers use it. So we came to a common ground on it saying, okay, well, students that see value in the test can choose it if they want to.”
Paquette says there will now be an active opt out process, so a student would understand they’re choosing not to take the test.
The legislation was approved unanimously in the House Education Committee and unanimously in the state Senate. Paquette says it’s a good example of bipartisan cooperation, noting he’s been at odds with Senator Polehanki on a few things in the past. She’s also a former teacher, and he says they were able to work together on this issue.
