Feds approve Connecticut’s plan to swap 11th grade tests

The U.S. Department of Education on Thursday approved a request submitted by Gov. Dannel Malloy asking to cut down on the amount of standardized testing required in the state.

“That will help level the playing field for those who might otherwise be precluded from taking the college entrance exam tests because of prohibitive costs”, Malloy said.

“A growing number of parents and advocates have joined classroom educators in recent years to sound the alarm over the use of unreliable tests and methods in assessing student performance”.

Under federal law, Connecticut must administer end-of-year tests to all students in Grades 3 to 8 and once in high school.

According to Governor’s latest announcement SAT will be offered for free to all Connecticut students it costs more than 50$.

And teachers will have another year before student test scores begin being factored into their evaluations.

“At Wilbur Cross, what we’re really trying to do is break the large school down to small pieces to make sure every child has the opportunity to be successful whether they choose to work or go to college, so I think this will help prepare them for that”, said Edith Johnson, Principal of Wilbur Cross High School. Now the SAT will replace the SBAC.

With today’s approval, starting in the fall 2015-2016 school-year, the SAT will be used in lieu of SBAC, and will be free for all Connecticut students.

Those are just a few of the changes that the U.S. Department of Education approved for Connecticut schools Thursday.

“We were very pleased to resolve those concerns”, the commissioner, Dianna Wentzell, said. As part of its transition to college and career-ready standards, Connecticut’s high school exam was recently moved from Grade 10 to Grade 11.

“The cow doesn’t get heavier when you weigh the cow more often, “said Harries at a press conference in New Haven with the governor”.