Scores not final test in schools on The Murfreesboro Post

Sidebar Ads

Scores not final test in schools

Related Articles

Commitment to education is no laughing matter

Nancy Rainier appointed to City School Board

Shipp donates $20,000 in scholarships

Read To Succeed announces essay contest

Teacher evaluation system to be evaluated

Top stories of 2011

Rutherford County Schools director resigns

Federal cuts could reach local level

MTSU, Motlow ink transfer agreement

One of best in the state

View All

By: RANDY O'BRIEN, Tennessee News Service

Posted: Monday, August 30, 2010 10:22 am

NASHVILLE - Numbers for Tennessee high school students taking the SAT or ACT academic achievement tests fell significantly this year, but are comparable to rates in other states during the first few years of requiring 100 percent participation.

Only six states require all high school juniors and seniors to take the ACT standardized college admission tests, and Tennessee Education Association Executive Director Al Mance says Tennessee students scored pretty well. While the tests are required for students who plan to attend college, Mance points out that the scores are only a small part of the overall evaluation of a student's performance.

"I don't think we should assign so much value to it, that if you have a certain proportion of students who don't achieve at the national average, we should suddenly make a decision that either the state has become dumber or somehow, a school system is failing.""

Mance says some experts believe the ACT is seen as a predictor of success in college, but in his opinion the test is just one part of a larger picture when evaluating students' futures.

"We can't reduce our expectations of students based on what they achieved on one test, any test. The tests don't give us the formula for life."

Mance also doesn't feel the need to require a particular minimum score on SAT or ACT tests for graduation, but says the test scores can help school systems determine where to focus resources for future classes.

Tagged under Schools

Member Opinions:

By: PhilHarper on 8/30/10
Funny, isn't it, that there never seems to be a test acceptable to the educationists. My experience personally and as an educator
leads me to believe students are not as smart as formerly. My wife ordered a small milkshake at Red Robin, asked for a spoon, & the employee said "spoons only come with the large shake", then brought her one. Unfortunately, this type of incident is all too common today. Phil Harper, 890-0904