Education Policy, Business and Technology

N.Y. Regents Launch Inquiry of State Tests Tied to Teacher Evaluations

Education Week: The Board of Regents’ new leaders launched an inquiry Monday into the validity of the state test system and its links to teacher evaluations, citing the need to rebuild public trust following a second annual round of massive exam boycotts on Long Island and across the state.

Regent Judith Johnson of New Hempstead in Rockland County, a consistent critic of state testing and evaluation procedures, was named to head up a new “work group” that will look into issues that strike at the heart of the state’s current system. Johnson said the foremost question revolves around whether there is credible research evidence that test scores of students in elementary and secondary schools are effective in helping evaluate teachers’ classroom performance.

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