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  • Writer's pictureJoanne Jacobs

Are test scores irrelevant?

Students defended their Providence, Rhode Island middle school in a panel discussion sponsored by Generation Citizen, reports the Providence Journal.

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Roger Williams Middle School is better than its reputation, students said. “They described a school where the adults care, where students feel safe and where their passions, whether it’s theater or sports, are allowed to flourish.”

“While the students rightly made the claim that test scores shouldn’t define a school, they seemed to imply that the scores don’t matter,” writes Erika Sanzi on Good School Hunting. Tweets by local educators and advocates endorsed this view.

Here’s the problem at Roger Williams Middle School, writes Sanzi.  Only 7 percent are at grade level in reading, 3 percent in math.

What kind of future awaits students who cannot read on level and cannot do basic math? For starters, students who don’t read at grade level by 3rd grade are four times more likely to drop out of high school.

“A grade on a test doesn’t show how smart we are,” Antonia Valerio said.

No. But it shows how well they’re prepared to succeed in high school and beyond.

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