Panel to look at ways to streamline education testing
Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. has set up a blue-ribbon panel to look at ways to streamline state-required exams. The panel will study testing methods in public schools, ways to give more immediate test results and how to make testing more cost-effective.
"I want to ensure that Utah testing methods provide enough information about how we can improve student achievement and instruction as a state," Huntsman said Tuesday in a prepared statement.
The panel will be led by State Superintendent of Public Instruction Patti Harrington and include legislators, officials from the State Office of Education, Utah System of Higher Education, schools and school district leaders, and ethnic minority student advocates.
It will give recommendations at the Governor's Education Summit in November.
The State Board of Education for about a year has periodically discussed ways to streamline testing, which several board members say has become cumbersome for teachers and students alike. A 2006 report showed Utah high school juniors could spend up to 19 hours taking state-mandated tests in a single school year.
Recent comments
The answer to your question, what other entity requires less or little…
Anonymous | Sept. 20, 2007 at 6:38 a.m.
Yeah, put it in the hands of Utah education leaders and you will…
Accountability Guy | Sept. 19, 2007 at 10:19 a.m.
The worst of the tests come from the Feds. I agree it is out of hand…
Feds, not state | Sept. 19, 2007 at 9:55 a.m.
