CONNECTICUT OPINION; STATE'S TEST RAISES SOME QUESTION OF VALUE

• Published in: The New York times
• Main Authors: Criscuolo, Nicholas P, Dr. Nicholas P. Criscuolo is supervisor of reading for the New Haven public schools
• Format: Newspaper Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, N.Y New York Times Company 26.01.1986
• Edition: Late Edition (East Coast)
• Subjects: CRISCUOLO, NICHOLAS P (DR); EDUCATION AND SCHOOLS; STANDARDS AND STANDARDIZATION; TESTS AND TESTING; CONNECTICUT
• ISSN: 0362-4331

Example 2. Since Jennifer lost her dog once and had him returned, what would she do with the dog that followed her home? a. Keep it as a pet b. Give it to a friend c. Chase the dog away d. Try to find the owner I do not want to ''second guess'' Jennifer, but here again more than one answer is possible. Most likely the correct answer is ''d'' but if it is a stray dog without a collar, all three of the other choices might be appropriate. We teach children that often there is no ''right'' or ''wrong'' answer and if an answer can be defended with logic, the pupil's response would be acceptable. Another question: Will school districts in Connecticut start to ''prepare'' for the test by stressing the objectives that are measured on it? Will this encourage school districts to cheat? In releasing the scores, the Commissioner of Education, Gerald N. Tirozzi, stated: ''There is disparity among the districts' results, with the big cities and certain rural districts scoring significantly below state averages.'' No surprises here. Mr. Tirozzi also said that he would give the state's students a grade of ''N'' for ''needs improvement.'' He encouraged state and local districts to work together to try to ''close the gap.'' School districts will do what they can to improve, considering their limited financial resources, but how does the state plan to join this effort? That is a question that remains unanswered.