Moscow school test scores/DN non-reporting

[Robert Probasco <rcprobasco@email.com>]

Was anyone else bothered by the dissembling article in the Jan. 15 Daily
Snooze headlined, "Latah County students score above state average"?

Apparently, the results of the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) and Tests of
Achievement and Proficiency (TAP) were released by the Idaho Dept. of Ed. 
Our local reporter extracted a few numbers and wrote a glowing article about
local schools/students.

Unfortunately, the parsimonious extraction of selected data prevented me
from obtaining a true picture of the test results.

Therefore, I called both the local DN reporter and the MSD Curriculum
Director, leaving a voice mail message for each.  While I received no
response from the DN, MSD CD Susan Seaman did call back, and we chatted
awhile.  Thank you, Susan.

Susan will be presenting her report to the MSD board this Tuesday, Feb. 1. 
I will be out of town and unable to attend, but Susan said she would forward
the report to me, perhaps even putting some information on the web.  Since
dozens of other USA school districts have some ITBS reports on the web, this
would allow any interested party to obtain a clearer picture
of how our schools & students compare to other districts (in the narrow
fields covered by the tests).

With all the hoopla generated concerning testing in public schools, it would
be nice for us consumers to have more complete information on the current
tests.  This will apparently have to come from the web, as our local news
sources are not allocating the resources to inform the public.

BTW, the Idaho DOE web site depicts the Idaho 1997-98 Disaggregated Results
for the ITBS and TAP at
www.sde.state.id.us/instruct/schoolaccount/performancesummary/tapdr.htm  and
www.sde.state.id.us/instruct/schoolaccount/performancesummary/disaggregated.htm

Robert Probasco      rcprobasco@email.com
204 S. Howard        882-1309
Moscow, ID 83843

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