Los Angeles County, CA November 2, 1999 Election
Smart Voter

Test Scores and Senior Portraits

By Calvin Ray Murphy, II

Candidate for Governing Board Member; Monrovia Unified School District

This information is provided by the candidate
We all know what our High School Senior Portrait looks like. It wasn't our best day. Why should tests reflect bad days?
The recent test score controversy in Monrovia, and across all of California for that matter, is all because of tests being taken on consecutive days. If your son of daughter was not feeling well, or was dealing with personal family issues, such as a death in the family, is it fair for their permanent record to reflect test scores taken during such a time. Test scores, which are meant as a measure of education, not a determination of how intellegient our students are, need to reflect what they are studying, not what some pencil-pusher in Sacremento is curious about. Standardized testing should be done on more than two occasions during a school year and should be averaged to reflect a more broad view of a student's progress.

Students should not have to answer for tests taken on days they were not at their personal best. The current system is like having your Senior Portrait taken and the photographer takes only one shot; and you had a cold that day.

A vote for Calvin Murphy is a vote for finding better ways to measure the progress of our precious children.

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ca/la Created from information supplied by the candidate: October 10, 1999 10:17
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