D.C. education officials defend test-scoring decision
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District education officials defended their decision to score the city’s 2013 standardized tests in a way that yielded gains in both math and reading, arguing Thursday at a D.C. Council hearing that it was the best way to demonstrate student progress as compared to prior years.
But facing aggressive questions and accusations of score manipulation from the chairman of the council’s Education Committee, officials acknowledged that they made a mistake when they failed to publicly explain their decision when they celebrated historic gains on the tests this summer.
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Another grading scale, which educators developed to reflect proficiency on tests newly aligned to tougher Common Core academic standards, would have yielded a larger gain in reading but a decline in math. District officials decided not to use that scale after seeing how it would affect scores.
“We need to communicate much better to all stakeholders, and you can be assured that next year’s [test score announcement] will be a very different rollout with a great