The Most Recent News Stories Related To Educational Testing and Public
Policy From Around the United States
"Schools
make big gains on MCAS"
11/02/01; The Boston
Globe; By Scott S. Greenberger and Bill Dedman
BROCKTON
-- Nearly every Massachusetts school district had a hand in the
startling statewide MCAS gains that have cut failure rates almost
in half, according to detailed results released yesterday.
Scores
went up failure rates went down in almost every district, and in
nearly all of them more than half of the students who took the 10th-grade
exam passed both the English and math sections.
But once
again, wealthy suburbs such as Wellesley, Lexington, and Wayland
posted the highest overall scores (three-time champion Harvard slipped
to number eight), while poorer city schools landed at the bottom.
That pattern, typical nationwide, has endured through four years
of MCAS scores.
See
Also:
10/25/01;
Boston Herald; By Ed Hayward. "Minorities
make MCAS gains, but 'gap remains"
10/26/01;
The Springfield Union-News; By Roselyn Tantraphol. "Thousands
didn't take MCAS test"
11/06/01;
The Boston Globe; By Scott S. Greenberger. "Only
one passes MCAS alternative"
11/14/01:
Boston.com; By John Mcelhenny, AP.
"As 10th graders are tested, more ninth graders being held
back"
"Schools
making headway on SOL Va.: Passing rate nearly doubles"
10/17/01;
The Washington Post; By Michael
A. Fletcher
Virginia
schools nearly doubled their rate of success on the Standards of
Learning exams this year, with 40 percent meeting the state's benchmarks,
up form 23 percent last year, according to test results released
yesterday.
An additional
30 percent of schools across the state reached the targets for annual
progress. That means 1,289 of the 1,839 schools in Virginia are
on track to meet the benchmarks for accreditation that will take
effect in 2007.
See
Also:
09/20/01;
The Washington Post; By Liz Seymour and Rosalind S. Helderman. "Virginia
scores improve on 25 of 28 SOL tests: Black students make significant
gains"
"Study
finds problems in MSPAP scoring"
11/07/01;
The Washington Post; By Amy Argetsinger
Unexplained
discrepancies in early score calculations for Maryland's landmark
standardized tests have prompted state education officials to delay
releasing the results and to call in experts who can assess the
problem, official said yesterday.
Hundreds
of schools across the state showed unexpectedly high or low scores,
said assistant state superintendent of schools Ron Peiffer, suggesting
an error in the complex process of grading and scaling the Maryland
State Performance Assessment Program.
See
Also:
11/07/01;
The Baltimore Sun; By Howard Libit. "State
delays release of MSPAP test results"
11/09/01;
The Washington Post; By Tracey A. Reeves and Annie Goweb. "Md.
test scores fluctuate: Dig dips, jumps alarm schools"
AUSTIN
-- More than 125,000 Texas students enrolled in low-achieving schools
will be eligible to transfer to better schools next fall under the
state's education-choice law.
A list
released Monday by the Texas Education Agency included the names of
121 campuses across the state -- including 40 in the Dallas school
district -- where students will have the right to leave for a better
education.
See
Also:
11/15/01;
Chicago Sun-Times. "Warning
list tells 371 schools here: Shape up"
University
of California regents Wednesday endorsed a major shift in the university's
admissions policy to allow personal achievements, no just grades and
test scores, to be considered for all freshman applicants.
See
Also:
11/15/01;
The Mercury news; By Becky Bartindale. "New
rules expected for US admissions"
02/17/01;
New York Times; By Diana Jean Schemo. "Head
of U. California seeks to end SAT use in admissions"
02/17/01;
Orange County Register; By Marla Jo Fisher.
"US president's plan would drop SAT 1; Education: SAT 2, which
focuses more on course work, would still be included"
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