Testing: Is it the only way to Evaluate Students?
About ten percent of __1__ (spend)on primary and secondary education in the United States comes from the federal government. For ten years now, federal law has tied this cost to student __2__ (perform). States have been required to show progress through __3__ (year) testing.
States saying testing tells only part of the story about efforts by school and students to improve. So the Obama administration has eased the limits on states in __4__ (measure) performance.
The western state of Colorado for example, has a new __5__ (assess) method. The idea is to show __6__ (academy) growth, not just achievement on tests. It combines test scores, family income levels, school size, the ethnicity of the student and many other factors.
Josh Smith is principal of a middle school in a network of public charter schools __7__ (call). West Denver Prep Charter schools are publicly funded but not operated the same as __8__ (tradition) public schools. Mr. Smith says he likes to show his students this graph so they can see their school’s progress. On average, students enter sixth grade at West Denver Prep __9__ (perform) below grade level. __10__ (strange) enough, most are outperforming other students across the state three years later.