State Gives Cash to Schools to Cut Unneeded Tests

Connecticut Public Radio | By David DesRoches

Published February 24, 2015 at 2:21 PM EST

Forty-eight school districts across Connecticut got a total of $428,000 to help them reduce the number of tests taken by students.

Districts are expected to use the money to analyze their current tests to ensure that they align to new state standards, provide value, and are not redundant with other tests.

New federally mandated tests, like the SBAC, whivh Connecticut students are taking, are not subject to be examined through this grant. The SBAC, or Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, is part of the new Common Core State Standards.

The Connecticut Education Association, which is the state's major teachers' union, has called for an end to the SBAC, saying that it's weighted too heavily when measuring school quality.

Education News

David DesRoches

David finds and tells stories about education and learning for WNPR radio and its website. He also teaches journalism and media literacy to high school students, and he starts the year with the lesson: “Conflicts of interest: Real or perceived? Both matter.” He thinks he has a sense of humor, and he also finds writing in the third person awkward, but he does it anyway.

See stories by David DesRoches

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

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