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State reverses policy on keeping EOG questions secret

McClatchy Tribune Wire Service

Published: September 8, 2009

State officials have lifted the curtain on a lingering mystery: Anyone who's curious can now see the year-end exams N.C. students take starting in third grade.

The tests are used to gauge whether students have mastered reading, math, science, computer literacy and a range of high-school subjects. They're also used to rate the effectiveness of schools and award bonuses to faculty -- at least when there's enough money in the budget.

For years, skeptics have said North Carolina's secrecy about the exams left their value in question. Show us the tests, they said, so we can decide whether they're a good measure of student knowledge.

A state Board of Education panel that reviewed the testing system agreed. Recently, copies of all exams went online (as you might guess, the specific questions posted won't be used in future exams).

"Being able to see the tests firsthand takes the mystery out of our testing program," State Superintendent June Atkinson said in a news release. "We hope that North Carolinians will look at these tests and see the increased level of learning expected today."

Cheryl Pulliam, director of Queens University of Charlotte's Public Education Research Institute, says most states beat North Carolina to the punch. When national groups have compared state exams, North Carolina tends to have an asterisk saying no information is available.

"I think that does lift that cloud that's been there," she said. "At least we are no longer an asterisk state."

Pulliam, a former teacher who worked with an advocacy group that taught families how to use data, said she thinks many parents will be surprised at how much their children are expected to know. And teachers can judge for themselves how well the tests reflect the material they're supposed to teach.