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North Carolina Students Will Take New State Tests This Year

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Students across North Carolina already are used to taking standardized state tests at the end of the year to measure their progress.  This school year the state is adding a couple dozen tests to measure how effective teachers are at getting students to learn.

High school students will be tested in 22 areas, many of them new, including Geometry and Chemistry.  Kids in grades four through eight will be tested in social studies as well as science most of those years. 

The state plans to use these tests to track student growth and tie that to teacher evaluations. 

Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools tried to do something similar two years ago when it added a bunch of new tests.  But the district pulled back after complaints from parents and teachers.

State education officials say these won't be standard multiple choice tests and, for that reason, all districts can use them to replace final exams teachers would normally give students at the end of the year. 

Local districts would have to pick up the cost of printing the exams and helping to score them. 

The CMS school board will hear a presentation on the new tests at Tuesday night's meeting. 

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Charlotte Area Education
Lisa Worf traded the Midwest for Charlotte in 2006 to take a job at WFAE. She worked with public TV in Detroit and taught English in Austria before making her way to radio. Lisa graduated from University of Chicago with a bachelor’s degree in English.