Governors Promoting National Tests
24 December, 1998
By June Kronholz
CNS News Analysis from NCPAWith President Clinton's proposal for a national student achievement test in controversy, the states' governors are trying to develop tests of their own.
Forty-three states are drafting new reading and math tests for their schoolchildren and 28 are working on science and history tests.
But there is no common measure for those tests, so the outcomes vary widely and comparisons among states are inappropriate.
One way to get around this would be to use a technique called matrix sampling -- having different children in each class answer different sets of questions, so that enough data would be developed to compare classes, schools, districts and states.
To sidestep the complaint that schoolchildren already face test overload, a technique known as embedding could be used -- supplying 15 or 20 questions that would take only a half-hour complete.
The only measure now, the National Assessment of Educational Progress tests, produce numbers so large that they are no use when it comes to measuring how well a school or district is performing.
Teacher assessment is another area in which the states are cooperating. Thirty-five states have joined a consortium that, beginning in 2003, will test and license new teachers -- who now are certified differently in each state.
June Kronholz's article, "States Take Lead in National Tests for
Schoolchildren," first appeared in the Wall Street Journal.
For more on measuring performance see the National Center for Policy
Analysis.
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