New Jersey making passing new tests a graduation requirement
OCTOBER 1, 2014, 4:59 PM LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2014, 11:59 PM
BY HANNAN ADELY
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD
New Jersey is making all students pass new tests in English and math or hit a minimum grade on a college admissions exam to get a high school diploma beginning in 2016.
The decision appears to be a reversal for the administration, which had promised the new tests wouldn’t count right away.
Acting Education Commissioner David Hespe denied that the administration was backing off its promise, because the tests will not be the only option. Students can also graduate if they reach certain minimum scores on tests such as the SAT or ACT or can show a portfolio, he said.
Two years ago, Governor Christie publicly endorsed the new tests based on standards adopted by New Jersey and other states. But as the standards, which are known as the Common Core, have grown controversial among parents and conservative voters, the governor has said little publicly about them. In July, he said he would form a commission to examine the new tests and standards, but no members have been announced yet.
Asked whether the governor agreed to the changes, Hespe said, “that’s between you and the governor’s press office.” Christie’s office declined to comment when reached late Wednesday, and the governor was in California for a Republican Governors Association fundraiser.
The change drew rebukes from parents, teachers and education activists who say it’s unfair to rely on tests that are unfamiliar.
– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/new-jersey-making-passing-new-tests-a-graduation-requirement-1.1100217#sthash.qVibM0yy.dpuf
Per a former teacher in Paterson, all that is required for a diploma in that town is for a student to ‘attend’. PERIOD.
Thanks to the “Abbot vs Burke” ruling of our left wing State Supreme court, the state treasury gets drained to spend the same or more on “Abbot District’ students as Ridgewood.
Disgusting waste of money by a ‘politically correct’ left wing court.
They are NOT helping these kids.