Spokane7
49°
August 13, 2010 in City
Idaho graduates don’t need to pass science test
BOISE – Idaho is scrapping a rule that would have required high school students to pass standardized tests in science before they graduate, starting with the class of 2013.
Idaho Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna said science classes vary from district to district and students are only tested twice – in the fifth and seventh grades – before they are tested by the state in the 10th grade.
“When you only test them in fifth and seventh grade, that’s not enough,” Luna said Thursday. “We have no way of identifying who needs remediation along the way.”
State education officials believe the lack of testing may explain why fewer students were proficient in science than in math and reading on the Idaho Standardized Achievement Tests this year. Public school students are tested more frequently in those subjects.
The current system is not an accurate measure of how students are performing in science, Luna said, “not to the point that we would make it a graduation requirement.”
The state Board of Education agreed, voting this week to dump the rule requiring students to test proficient in science before they graduate – at least for now.
The board instructed Luna’s department to develop end-of-course assessments in science that students will have to pass in order to graduate, according to documents provided by the board. Those assessments would take effect for the class of 2017.
© Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Couple acquitted of caging 2 boys 
misjustice on August 13 at 7:57 a.m.
Ideeho don’t need no stinkin’ science!
rob_brewer on August 13 at 9:37 a.m.
I guess this paves the way for a creationism graduation exam!
MrNatural on August 13 at 9:43 a.m.
I’m not sure if this is hilarious or depressing.
Just the other day there was a story on creating a technical skills center in Idaho. So am I to deduce that the Great State of Idaho is more interested in turning their youth into service and assembly line workers and cannon fodder?
Is the new state motto: Come to Idaho where ignorance is bliss?
force_vector on August 18 at 7:04 p.m.
You guys need to resist the urge to make fun of Idaho in general until you have at least digested what this article is saying.
“When you only test them in fifth and seventh grade, that’s not enough,” Luna said Thursday. “We have no way of identifying who needs remediation along the way.”.
Clearly, there is the fear that inadequate testing prior to the graduation test won’t give students who are struggling a chance to improve before being denied graduation, and thus have what could be for many an insurmountable obstacle of reversing years worth of scientific ignorance. In other words, it’s not fair to say in the 4th quarter that your accomplishments in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd weren’t good enough, even though we weren’t watching so we couldn’t really tell you what you were doing wrong or how and where to improve. There must be a science literacy requirement for graduation, and the last paragraph of this article shows that Idaho knows that. They just want to make sure they implement the requirement in away that is fair and actually helps people.
I know it must be hard to sit up on the perch of greatness that is Spokane (urban blight, horrible roads, high rate of homelessness, and all the other wonderful things Spokane is known for), and not be judgmental to the point that you don’t even read an article before taking your swipes. But please, at least try.