WPRO News and the Associated Press
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) – State Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist has told school superintendents they may establish policies requiring students to participate in a new statewide standardized test.
The Providence Journal reports that in a memo Friday to superintendents, Gist said school districts may have policies requiring participation in the Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers. It will begin in March and replaces the New England Common Assessment Program.
She said that for this year at least school districts may not use test scores to help determine a child’s grade because those results won’t be available this school year.
Steve Brown, executive director of the Rhode Island affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union, said linking the test to grades before assessment of readiness tests have been launched encourages districts to use it punitively.\
