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<p>Editorial: Delay the exit exam But keep the pressure on high schools Bee Editorial Staff Published 2:15 a.m. PDT Tuesday, June 17, 2003 The 90,000-some students in the Class of 2004 who were expected to fail the high school exit exam can all breathe a collective sigh of relief. State schools chief Jack O'Connell has opted to cancel the planned July administration of the test, which students have been able to take at various times throughout the year, and will likely cancel the September and November administrations as well. His sensible action will save the state more than $1 million and save the schools the grief of administering a test that would very likely have had no consequence for students. That's because the state Board of Education is almost certain to vote next month to delay the passage requirement to 2006 or maybe even 2007. O'Connell proposes to begin administering the test again next January, when the Class of 2006 will be halfway through its sophomore year.</p>

MIAMI -- The graduation ceremony for Miami Edison High School's class of 2003 seemed normal enough. The band played "Pomp and Circumstance." Platitudes were uttered about the future. Parents cheered and cried as their children's names were read aloud. What made this commencement ceremony different, though, was that most of Miami Edison's 480 seniors didn't actually graduate. Most of the students who didn't graduate haven't yet passed the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, or FCAT, the Sunshine State's high-stakes exam. This year, for the first time, seniors must pass the FCAT in order to graduate. So, instead of diplomas, most students...

Is-ness Is All A New York Times reporter, Tamar Lewin, tries grading SAT II essays and discovers that she's out of step with the veteran graders. What they think is a top-scoring 6, she thinks is empty blather. Our instructions don't help me much: Ignore the handwriting. Read holistically, not analytically. Do not reread. Read supportively, and grade what's there, not what's missing. If the paper is absolutely illegible, or completely off-topic, give it to your table leader. Read the whole thing before making any judgment, since some papers improve greatly once the student gets going ... What is most...

BOSTON (AP)--Four attempts. Two points shy. The numbers plague Karl Kearns, a senior at Burke High School in Boston. This was the first year in which seniors statewide were denied diplomas if they failed the state's high school test, the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System exam, or MCAS. Kearns was one of some 4,800 seniors who didn't make the cut. Despite maintaining a ``B'' average, winning an award for ``most improved'' in his class, being captain of his football team and overcoming the challenges of a broken home and a reading disability, he didn't score high enough to get a diploma...

TRUCKING and mining companies are using random, 12-minute saliva tests that can reveal workers' drug use. The new, quick method of screening for marijuana, amphetamines, opiates, cocaine and benzodiazepine is being taken up by companies in Queensland and other states, including national trucking company Linfox. Michael Bull, the Queensland representative of Integrity Sampling, which conducts the screening using mouth swabs, said it was not acting as "lifestyle police". The saliva test detected only drugs used in a timeframe when workers would be considered potentially under intoxication, he said. The test showed a positive or negative result for marijuana used within...

California's high-school exit exam, once heralded as a sure-fire way to ratchet up achievement and make a diploma worthwhile, will be postponed amid concerns about high failure rates and the political and legal backlash from denying thousands of students the right to graduate next year. A majority of the members of the California Board of Education said they would vote next month to delay implementing the exit-exam policy. By pushing back the requirement for passing the exam at least two years to the Class of 2006, board members said they would give students more opportunity to master the necessary English...

2 + 2 = ? On Number 2 Pencil, Kim Swygert rounds up the controversies over graduation and promotion exams. Basically, everyone wants to blame the test instead of blaming the school for not teaching algebra or the student for not learning. Or they just blame racism: “I call it a testocracy,” said Ron Walters, the director of the African-American Leadership Institute at the University of Maryland. He said that the tests used for high school graduation in Florida are culturally biased, as are most tests across the country now being used to measure the performance of schools, teachers and...

<p>Home-schooled students no longer would have to take periodic achievement tests under a bill that won final legislative approval Tuesday, but Gov. Ted Kulongoski warned that he may veto the measure.</p> <p>Senate Bill 761 cleared the Senate on a 21-9 vote after supporters said it would free parents from an unnecessary state requirement that doesn't apply to children in private schools.</p>

Attack may backfire… motivate conservative turnout for Mark Tate on Tue, Jun 10th. (From an email on the Richmond Times/AP story)..... (6-1-03. AP) Sounding a combative, occasionally bitter tone in a June 1st Richmond Times Dispatch article, Sen. Russ Potts pledges, if reelected, to submit a bill to mandate public school SOL tests for home schoolers. Potts says he is conservatives’ “worst nightmare.” In a move sure to ignite howls of protests and questions about his ethics, Potts invites Democrats to vote in the Republican primary to save him. Potts calls conservatives “Johnnies-come- lately…obsessed with abortion.” He acknowledges Mark Tate...

Home-school testing repeal near final OK (Salem-AP) - Oregon's home-schooled students would no longer have to take periodic achievement tests under a measure that moved close to final legislative approval on Thursday. The Senate-passed bill was endorsed 34-to-25 by the House, returning the measure to the Senate for action on amendments. Advocates say it would free parents from an unneeded state requirement that doesn't apply to children in private schools. Critics say eliminating the tests would remove the only way to ensure students are being adequately taught at home. State law now requires that home-schooled students take nationally recognized,...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use.A simple test could one day help police to catch psychopathic potential serial killers. Psychologists in Wales have adapted an existing psychological test to identify people with psychopathic tendencies. The 10 minute test is based on the Implicit Association Test, developed in the United States, and used to reveal people's deepest thoughts and feelings. Psychopaths may be capable of committing violent or antisocial acts but rarely demonstrate any remorse or guilt. They are often highly skilled at lying, can be charming and are adept at faking the emotions they lack. For this...

<p>TAIPEI, Taiwan — Canadian officials conceded that precautions at Toronto hospitals weren't enough to prevent new SARS (search) infections, while Hong Kong researchers said a vaccine for the highly contagious respiratory disease is ready for testing on animals.Since emerging in November in southern China, the virus has infected more than 8,200 people worldwide. Taiwan on Tuesday reported 11 new cases and four deaths, bringing the global death toll to at least 729.</p>

USTIN, Tex. — Security was tight when Texas State Board of Education members were given results last fall from a field trial of a new statewide achievement test. Guards stood outside their locked meeting room, and board members were asked to sign a secrecy pledge, reflecting the sensitivity of the situation."The results were grim," said Chase Untermeyer, a member. "Few students did well. Many students got almost no answers right."Fearing that thousands of students would fail the new test and be held back a grade, and that hundreds of schools could face penalties under the federal No Child Left Behind...

Remember the bell curve? Well, here comes its even more terrifying successor--the bow tie. Some years ago a Forbes columnist was compiling a chart for an article on education. The statistical relationship he uncovered in his research was so remarkable that it became an article in itself--or what the columnist called "a charticle." That is a chart that makes such a strong point that it requires very few words of additional explanation. Charticles duly became a regular feature in Forbes and later on CBS Marketwatch. In this case the charticle consisted of two lines. One line, beginning at the lower...

<p>At least 734 Jackson district sixth-graders last year failed a math test required to advance to seventh grade, while 533 sixth-graders failed a language arts test.</p> <p>But not all ended up repeating the sixth grade, despite parents and students being told they'd have to if they flunked one of the tests.</p>

Md. Teacher Finds Botched PSAT Question Student Test Scores Increased Due To Erroneous Question POSTED: 9:00 p.m. EDT May 14, 2003 The nation's largest testing company has increased the PSAT scores of nearly 500,000 high school juniors after the company concluded it was wrong about the correct answer to a grammar question posed on the exam last October. Students were asked if anything was grammatically wrong with the following sentence: "Toni Morrison's genius enables her to create novels that arise from and express the injustices African-Americans have endured." The correct choice on the multiple choice exam was originally listed as...

"High-Stakes" Test Rejected At Boise Hearing BOISE - None of the people who spoke at a Boise public hearing yesterday support a proposed test to determine if high school students will graduate. The state's plan includes a "high-stakes" test, so named because a student's graduation would ride on how they do on the test. Educators also criticized the plan for laying out sanctions against school districts whose students don't show academic improvement. Those sanctions are proposed without any mention of money needed to improve student performance. Elementary school teacher Lydia Powers says many high school students aren't mature enough...

Her father challenged her to make a "perfect" score on the SAT. And this spring Amitha Harichandran, a Quartz Hill High School junior, met his challenge, bringing home a 1,600, the highest possible score on the SAT I: Reasoning Test. The junior scored 800 on the math and verbal portions of the test. Amitha said the score came after she took classes and practice tests for the aptitude and skills exam used for college entrance. "She's been a pretty good student throughout. She met my challenge," said Wijey Harichandran, her father. "She threw the challenge back at me." The 16-year-old...

Lowering FCAT passing scores will allow 1,000 to graduate (Tallahassee-AP) -- The lowering of the passing score for seniors who took the F-CAT will allow about one-thousand who originally flunked to go ahead and graduate. The F-CAT is given in 10th grade but a student who fails can take the test again five more times. Nearly 14-thousand seniors have not passed the F-CAT, a requirement for grduation. About 4-thousand of those wouldn't graduate even if they did pass the F-CAT because they don't have the grades or haven't taken all the required courses. Seniors have another chance to take...

CNSNews.com) - Do America's colleges and universities need congressional oversight to produce well-educated adults? Some in Congress think so. The upshot could be standardized tests and reporting requirements. The Higher Education Act, an omnibus bill that funnels $80 billion a year to institutions of higher learning, is due for reauthorization this year - a time in which state governments have been forced to scale back or make cuts. The federal bill has sparked a Tuesday hearing by the House Education and Workforce Committee on what to do about perceived shortcomings related to "accountability and quality." "The horror stories you're hearing...