WASHINGTON (AP) – Call this the year of the test. Or, at least the year of standardized test mania.
Standardized test season in K-12 classrooms has been dominated in some states by widespread technical problems or by parents allowing their children to opt out. But testing officials say the rollout this spring of new standardized tests taken by computer in U.S. public schools has been without major problems in much of the country.
The next step? Seeing how students did – and how parents and educators respond. Test scores don’t just inform parents of their child’s progress; they are used to judge schools and teacher performance, too. The new exams are expected to be harder in many states than the state assessments they replaced, but they’ve been billed as a more accurate testing of what students are actually learning.
A student testing 101:
TESTS ARE NEW