NC House Eyes Changes to Exams, Teachers, School Grades…

Excerpt From: WRAL. Written By: Laura Leslie.

House lawmakers are moving ahead with several bills aimed at easing testing and other requirements for teachers in North Carolina, including a proposal to eliminate statewide final exams.

One measure that passed the House K-12 Education Committee on Tuesday would change the formula used to calculate school letter grades. Under current law, the score is based 80 percent on schools’ student proficiency on standardized tests and 20 percent on year-over-year student growth. House Bill 322 would change the formula to 50/50.

“In my view, education is growth,” said sponsor Rep. Craig Horn, R-Union. “Proficiency rewards schools for the students they take in, but not necessarily for how well they teach students.”

Rep. Debra Conrad, R-Forsyth, argued that the emphasis should remain on how well students perform at grade level.

“We want to keep the bar high and encourage the teachers that this is our goal,” Conrad said. “You do want children to grow, but you don’t want to mask the fact that they’re not reaching grade level.”

Conrad, a committee co-chair, was the lone no vote as the bill passed on a voice vote.

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