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Monday, August 2, 2010

Critics want full accounting of state math and reading exam debacle; commissioner wants to move on

Critics want full accounting of state math and reading exam debacle; commissioner wants to move on

Critics want full accounting of state math and reading exam debacle; commissioner wants to move on

Monday, August 2nd 2010, 4:00 AM

Education reform advocates want an inquiry into state education exams that were too easy for students to pass, and therefore gave an inaccurate measure of their educational achievement.
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Education reform advocates want an inquiry into state education exams that were too easy for students to pass, and therefore gave an inaccurate measure of their educational achievement.

The state should investigate the school test mess, and heads should roll, outraged education reform advocates say.

But the new state education boss wants to move on - saying there's no point in finger-pointing over abysmal reading and math scores released last week for third- through eighth-graders.

"We all bear responsibility for the past," said Commissioner David Steiner. "Rather than go back...and try the impossible 'blame game,' what's crucial is to say, 'We need tests that test effectively.'"

Longtime critics of the state tests were less ready to forget past mistakes.

"If all these things are so bollixed up, why is the state's testing director still on the payroll?" said the Manhattan Institute's Sol Stern, a longtime education advocate. "There



Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/education/2010/08/02/2010-08-02_critics_howling_in_ed_test_mess.html?r=ny_local/education#ixzz0vRzDJ6tk