[Vision2020] Idaho Graduates Don’t Need to Pass Science Test

[Sue Hovey]

And if we dump the test we won't have to deal with those pesky ideas such as 
evolution and the age of the Earth.

Sue

--------------------------------------------------
From: "Tom Hansen" <thansen at moscow.com>
Sent: Friday, August 13, 2010 6:35 AM
To: "Moscow Vision 2020" <vision2020 at moscow.com>
Subject: [Vision2020] Idaho Graduates Don’t Need to Pass Science Test

> Oh, yeah.  This should certainly improve things.
>
> Jeesh!
>
> Courtesy of today's (August 13, 2010) Spokesman-Review.
>
> --------------------------------------------------------
>
> Idaho graduates don’t need to pass science test
> Jessie L. Bonner
> Associated Press
>
> BOISE – Idaho is scrapping a rule that would have required high school
> students to pass standardized tests in science before they graduate,
> starting with the class of 2013.
>
> Idaho Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna said science classes
> vary from district to district and students are only tested twice – in the
> fifth and seventh grades – before they are tested by the state in the 10th
> grade.
>
> “When you only test them in fifth and seventh grade, that’s not enough,”
> Luna said Thursday. “We have no way of identifying who needs remediation
> along the way.”
>
> State education officials believe the lack of testing may explain why
> fewer students were proficient in science than in math and reading on the
> Idaho Standardized Achievement Tests this year. Public school students are
> tested more frequently in those subjects.
>
> The current system is not an accurate measure of how students are
> performing in science, Luna said, “not to the point that we would make it
> a graduation requirement.”
>
> The state Board of Education agreed, voting this week to dump the rule
> requiring students to test proficient in science before they graduate – at
> least for now.
>
> The board instructed Luna’s department to develop end-of-course
> assessments in science that students will have to pass in order to
> graduate, according to documents provided by the board. Those assessments
> would take effect for the class of 2017.
>
> --------------------------------------------------------
>
> Please, Idaho.  Do yourself a favor and get rid of Superintendent Tom
> "Looney" Luna.
>
> Seeya at Farmers Market, Moscow.
>
> Tom Hansen
> Moscow, Idaho
>
> "The Pessimist complains about the wind, the Optimist expects it to change
> and the Realist adjusts his sails."
>
> - Unknown
>
>
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