New York Will Make Standardized Exams Tougher
By JENNIFER MEDINA
Published: July 19, 2010
New York State education officials acknowledged on Monday that their standardized exams had become easier to pass over the last four years and said they would recalibrate the scoring for tests taken this spring, which is almost certain to mean thousands more students will fail.
While scores spiked significantly across the state at every grade level, there were no similar gains on other measurements, including national exams, they said.
“The only possible conclusion is that something strange has happened to our test,” David M. Steiner, the education commissioner, said during a Board of Regents meeting in Albany. “The word ‘proficient’ should tell you something, and right now that is not the case on our state tests.”
Large jumps in the passing rates, which Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg trumpeted in his re-election campaign last year,
ON EDUCATION
A Popular Principal, Wounded by Government’s Good Intentions
By MICHAEL WINERIP
At Wheeler Elementary in Burlington, Vt., a highly regarded principal has been removed so the district can qualify for millions in stimulus dollars.
Standardized English Tests Are Halted in Iran
By YEGANEH JUNE TORBATI
Registration for tests given by the Educational Testing Service, including the Test of English as a Foreign Language, was suspended in what may be one of the first tangible effects of new sanctions.
N.F.L. Youth Clinics Link Football Skills and Citizenship
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
A league official sees a direct connection between the N.F.L.’s efforts to clean up behavior and the more than 125 high school player development clinics the league is running around the country this summer.