New Electronic Testing Standards Mean Big Expenses for Dearborn Schools
With the state requiring computer-based assessments for the 2014-15 school year, the Dearborn Public School Board will need to debate how to meet new standards with few funding options.
Forget Scantrons and No. 2 pencils. Standardized testing will look very different for the Michigan students of 2014 and beyond. That’s because the Michigan Department of Education is replacing the traditional, standardized Michigan Education Assessment Program, or MEAP, exams with new, electronic assessments that will assess students in math, reading and writing. But the change is going to be an expensive proposition for Dearborn Public Schools. The Dearborn Board of Education, which steers policy for the 19,000-student district, will have to make a decision about how to pay for the unfunded mandate in the cash-strapped district—which could include asking voters to approve a bond, or a sinking fund, to help pay for needed technological …
Lee Jacobsen
2:33 am on Tuesday, January 15, 2013
It appears, after reading the article , that the school system infrastructure is adequate, just that the computers are somewhat dated. Here is a thought that may work. Make known the minimum computer requirements, memory, capacity, windows 7 , etc, and have the students buy their own computers. Have the cost of the computer, via a receipt etc, be 25% deductible from the resident's school tax bill… more ›