What the state tests are supposed to be for
The purpose of the state Education Department's testing program is to evaluate students' progress toward meeting standards outlined in the state's curriculum (not to compare kids with one another) and to provide a basis for evaluating schools on their performance in getting all children to grade level.
"It's mostly about the ones and twos," a state Education official responsible for these tests told us (meaning the children who score at the lowest levels in the tests' 1-4 grading system). The same official emphasized that such testing is now mandatory under the federal No Child Left Behind Act. "We do it so that local districts can get federal Title I money," she said.
This official told us that state Education Commissioner Richard Mills does not encourage the use of these tests for purposes other than those intended.