This week, mom's columnist at a sensitive issue in public schools: standardized testing.
Between the Connecticut Mastery Tests, taken each year by third-through-eighth graders, the Connecticut Academic Performance Test, taken annually by 10th-graders, and the SATs required at most colleges and universities, it's evident that a child with a public school education cannot escape the No. 2 pencils and headaches that come with standardized tests.
Some parents and educators fear that we are depending too much on results of standardized tests to determine whether and what our children are learning, especially since a school's success is now measured by results of those test scores because of the federal No Child Left Behind legislation.
So we ask you, parents, students, former students and educators (I think that covers all of us), what you think...
- Are we testing our children too much?
- Is there another way for us to measure student and school success?
- How much emphasis do you put on standardized test scores?
We look forward to your responses.
