Rapid City Journal, Oct. 4

Who deserves blame for poor student testing?

The dismal statistics of a recent South Dakota News Watch story painted a simple picture: Just under half of...

FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) — The Fairbanks North Star Borough School District requested an analysis of the accuracy of statewide student testing that produced lower than expected results, officials...

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A new Cabinet secretary and the public face of efforts to overhaul New Mexico's troubled public education system said Monday that he sees unprecedented opportunity to improve...

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Monday tapped a Philadelphia-based executive at a nonprofit devoted to improving opportunities for poor, minority students to lead...

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — The Michigan Senate on Wednesday voted to delay a key change in the state's evaluation system for teachers and school administrators, in the latest sign of unease with what...

PHOENIX (AP) — A U.S. Department of Education official says Arizona policy changes on student testing go against federal law and put substantial education funding provided to the state at risk,...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee wants the next administrator of its student assessment test to follow strict performance requirements after previous rollouts resulted in statewide delays and...

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina legislators continue hearing testimony from the public on a massive bill to overhaul South Carolina's education system.

Tuesday's education subcommittee meeting was another opportunity for lawmakers and members of the public to discuss the proposed 84-page bill that would provide a 10 percent raise to the minimum salary for first-year teachers, consolidate poorly performing school districts and eliminate four state standardized tests.

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — An expert in professional development for teachers was named Thursday as New Mexico's secretary of public education, as the state grapples with a court order to increase school resources for struggling children from minority and low-income families.

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Thursday set in motion the replacement of the current statewide standardized testing system with a pair of executive orders that also calls for removing those exam results from teacher evaluations.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Educators in South Carolina have told state lawmakers that constant student testing is one of the biggest roadblocks they face.

A Senate panel met Wednesday to get ideas on how to deal with a teacher shortage in South Carolina, news outlets reported. Nearly 5,000 teachers quit public school classrooms in South Carolina last year.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee lawmakers wrapped up an election-year legislative session late Wednesday, highlighting their last day by passing legislation that would require state and local law enforcement agencies to detain immigrants for deportation at the request of federal officials without requiring warrants or probable cause.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Tennessee Legislature has passed a $37.5 billion budget following days of controversy after Memphis was punished for removing Confederate statues and student testing failures threatened to hold up passage.

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — An unknown number of students taking the statewide English assessment by computer encountered delays when a security feature in the system "inadvertently activated" and prevented them from logging in, New York education officials said on Thursday.

The problem on Wednesday originated with test vendor Questar Assessment Inc., which eventually fixed the issue, Education Department spokeswoman Emily DeSantis said.

Testing continued on Thursday without any additional interruptions.

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — The federal government has approved North Dakota's newly crafted state education standards.

U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos says the plan that North Dakota officials have been working on for more than a year meets the requirements under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act.

The law superseded the No Child Left Behind law and gives states more flexibility on student testing and academic standards.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas education officials are renewing a contract with the state's student assessment provider despite technical problems that caused delays for many school districts.

Members of the Kansas State Board of Education unanimously voted on Tuesday to renew the $6 million contract with the University of Kansas' Center for Educational Testing and Evaluation.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas education officials are holding off on renewing a contract with the state's student assessment provider after the latest delays caused by technical problems.

State Education Commissioner Randy Watson told state school board members Tuesday that there are "many other options" for delivering the test and that officials "want things to be reliable," The Topeka Capital-Journal (http://bit.ly/2o3KiZG ) reports.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina students would take fewer end-of-year tests in science and social studies under recommendations adopted Tuesday by the state's Education Oversight Committee.

The governing board of the agency that oversees student testing voted 8-5 to reduce state-mandated testing in the subjects. If the Legislature approves, standardized testing would alternate between the subjects in fourth through eighth grades.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — While the South Carolina agency that oversees student testing hasn't officially recommended grading schools A through F on public report cards, the very suggestion has prompted a backlash from educators.

District superintendents, state Department of Education officials and teachers' representatives were among opponents speaking against the idea at a Dec. 12 subcommittee meeting.

Your daily look at news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today.

JUDGE SIDES WITH PARENTS IN LAWSUIT OVER STUDENT TESTING

A judge is siding with families who are fighting a state law that ties students' promotion to fourth grade on how they perform on standardized reading tests. A Tallahassee judge ruled Friday that school districts must consider other options other than students' performances on the Florida Standards Assessment tests

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — State Superintendent Kirsten Baesler says the Department of Public Instruction is offering assistance for schools to evaluate whether their student testing can be reduced and streamlined.

Baesler says educators who are interested in taking part in the assessment inventory may participate in a July 19 webinar. She says DPI will explain the initiative and discuss its potential benefits.

Afterward, schools may apply to take part in a pilot...