Parents blindsided as stellar students are now failing state exams, as funding for tutoring slashed
Sunday, December 5th 2010, 4:00 AM
After years of good grades, Makelah Elliott and her family were shocked to find out she failed the fifth-grade state reading exam this summer.
Determined not to let Makelah, 11, fall farther behind in her first year of middle school, her mom is shelling out $120 a month for private tutoring.
"I'm trying my best to find any other ways to help her," said her mom, Marsha Elliott. "I don't think the school was providing enough. I had to go on the outside to put her in the program to get her the help she needed."
More than 100,000 extra children failed state exams this year after the state acknowledged the tests were too easy and raised the bar. At 369 schools, two out of three students are not reading at grade level, up from just five schools in 2009, stats
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/education/2010/12/05/2010-12-05_parents_blindsided_as_stellar_students_are_now_failing_state_exams_as_funding_fo.html#ixzz17FUwKiqo