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Log inPupil testing revives old idea
Pupil testing revives old idea
by Outspoken on Mon Nov 03, 2008 5:09 am
Pupil testing revives old idea
BY MATTHEW STONE
Staff Writer Morning Sentinel
The move -- which would save the state $1 million to $2 million annually, according to department figures, revised down from previous estimates of $2 million -- was a response to Gov. John Baldacci's appeal to state agencies to trim budget requests by 10 percent.
Becoming the fourth state to use NECAP tests would save Maine from separate test development costs.
The Department of Education also announced it would call off March's fifth- and eighth-grade writing tests, producing a one-time savings of $120,000 to $140,000.
Testing expensive
Maine spends $6 million annually on student testing, Department of Education spokesman David Connerty-Marin said, and the writing tests are the most expensive to administer because the scoring cannot be automated. The department this year had already paid to develop and pilot test questions. The department will save test administration, correction and score-analysis costs.
The NECAP regional testing venture began in 2002 after the federal No Child Left Behind Act passed, requiring states to test students in grades 3 through 8 and one year in high school in mathematics and reading.
"We knew we were faced with this," said Elliot Krieger, a spokesman for the Rhode Island Department of Education. "We also knew we were a small state and it would be difficult to go alone."
Rhode Island officials reached out to other New England states, seeking collaborators on a new set of mathematics, reading, writing and science examinations, Krieger said. Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont were interested and became early partners.
"They pooled their resources and they probably have a better test," said Monty Neill, deputy director of FairTest, a Boston-based organization that promotes fair student testing.
Interstate partnership
Neill, who keeps tabs on standardized tests across the United States, said the New England test is among the only examples of interstate partnerships on basic subject tests. States up until recently have more commonly joined to create specialized tests for students learning English and those with learning disabilities.
By 2003, Krieger said, the partner states had signed a contract with a Dover, N.H.-based test developer, Measured Progress, and were preparing to administer the tests in the fall of 2005, but Maine had dropped out of the partnership.
"When the New England states were moving in that direction, our law required that I do spring testing," Maine Education Commissioner Susan Gendron said. "I needed to go to the Legislature and get that language changed. As a result of that, the states moved forward, and the other states went with NECAP."
http://morningsentinel.mainetoday.com/news/local/5565653.html
BY MATTHEW STONE
Staff Writer Morning Sentinel
The move -- which would save the state $1 million to $2 million annually, according to department figures, revised down from previous estimates of $2 million -- was a response to Gov. John Baldacci's appeal to state agencies to trim budget requests by 10 percent.
Becoming the fourth state to use NECAP tests would save Maine from separate test development costs.
The Department of Education also announced it would call off March's fifth- and eighth-grade writing tests, producing a one-time savings of $120,000 to $140,000.
Testing expensive
Maine spends $6 million annually on student testing, Department of Education spokesman David Connerty-Marin said, and the writing tests are the most expensive to administer because the scoring cannot be automated. The department this year had already paid to develop and pilot test questions. The department will save test administration, correction and score-analysis costs.
The NECAP regional testing venture began in 2002 after the federal No Child Left Behind Act passed, requiring states to test students in grades 3 through 8 and one year in high school in mathematics and reading.
"We knew we were faced with this," said Elliot Krieger, a spokesman for the Rhode Island Department of Education. "We also knew we were a small state and it would be difficult to go alone."
Rhode Island officials reached out to other New England states, seeking collaborators on a new set of mathematics, reading, writing and science examinations, Krieger said. Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont were interested and became early partners.
"They pooled their resources and they probably have a better test," said Monty Neill, deputy director of FairTest, a Boston-based organization that promotes fair student testing.
Interstate partnership
Neill, who keeps tabs on standardized tests across the United States, said the New England test is among the only examples of interstate partnerships on basic subject tests. States up until recently have more commonly joined to create specialized tests for students learning English and those with learning disabilities.
By 2003, Krieger said, the partner states had signed a contract with a Dover, N.H.-based test developer, Measured Progress, and were preparing to administer the tests in the fall of 2005, but Maine had dropped out of the partnership.
"When the New England states were moving in that direction, our law required that I do spring testing," Maine Education Commissioner Susan Gendron said. "I needed to go to the Legislature and get that language changed. As a result of that, the states moved forward, and the other states went with NECAP."
http://morningsentinel.mainetoday.com/news/local/5565653.html
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Plato (427-347 BC)
Plato (427-347 BC)
