Tuesday, March 26, 2013
New test sparks conversation about what Fairfax County Public Schools should be testing and how.
In looking at the array of tests students face today, some people have ventured those enrolled in Fairfax County Public Schools — and other systems across the country — are overtested. Last week, Fairfax officials released new information about a new pilot test given across 10 county high schools, which asked students to draw on both prior knowledge and new information to solve problems across disciplines instead of simply recalling what they learned in any given year, as is often the case with standardized tests like Virginia's Standards of Learning exams. With it comes an opportunity to change the way the system assesses its students, officials said. "It's worth exploring as we explore how we can be less test obsessed," school board …
Monday, February 4, 2013
Controversial measure passes in the Virginia House of Delegates 54 - 40 Monday.
- GOVERNMENT
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Monday, February 4
By Samantha Morgan, Capital News Service Gov. Bob McDonnell praised the Virginia House of Delegates after legislators bassed a bill Monday he said would provide a simpler way to understand a school’s performance and the state’s accreditation system. Delegates voted 54-40 to approve House Bill 1999, which would require the Virginia Board of Education to grade each school on an A-F scale. The bill, sponsored by Del. Thomas “Tag” Greason (R-Landsdowne), is part of McDonnell’s K-12 legislative agenda. Under the bill, the board would develop a grading system for all schools by Aug. 1. The letter grade would be given in addition to the state’s more detailed standards of accreditation for individual school performance. Keep up to date on all …
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Local educators say more cooperation and collaboration needed in Virginia to prepare for changing job market.
This is the second of a two part series about the Feb. 25, 2012, joint retreat of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors and the Fairfax County School Board. Part I, Board of Supervisors, School Board Team Up, was published Monday. __________ Providing a skilled work force for the next decade is going to require collaboration between public school systems, community colleges and four-year universities, according to local educators. Dana Kauffman, director of College Government Affairs at Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA), said local communities need to grow their own front-line work force. He addressed the joint retreat of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors and School Board Saturday. A 2011 study conducted by Dr. Stephen …
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RGS
2:32 pm on Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Perhaps there is also a better way of evaluating tests/data that are already available. For example; How many AP students don't pass the AP tests (score 1 or 2)? I understand its close to 20% that don't pass AP tests. Yet HS schools are evaluated percentages of sutents "taking" AP classes -- not if they do/don't pass. Also, there are other school districts in Va. whose standards far easier for … more ›