State Education Board to consider statewide finals

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The State Board of Education next month could consider changing the standardized tests high school students take, in hopes of making students try harder.

A task force on how to improve high school education had recommended Missouri move away from the Missouri Assessment Program tests and instead require students to take a college entrance exam, such as the ACT. But the state board rejected that idea last summer.

Now the board could take up another proposed test swap as early as its Feb. 15 meeting. If the board approves the plan, the new tests could be used starting with the 2008 to 2009 school year.

State education officials are looking at replacing the MAP tests in high school with statewide final exams in at least four subjects -- algebra, English, biology and government.

Many educators have complained that students don't take the MAP tests seriously because they don't affect their grades, so students' knowledge may not be accurately represented.

But performance on the statewide final exam could be part of their grade in a course.

The state board likely would set a minimum portion that the score would account for, but each district would be able to give the results more weight, assistant commissioner Stan Johnson said.

Districts could decide whether to continue giving locally generated finals in those subjects as well.

Another advantage to creating a statewide final in certain subjects would be a better ability to ensure that students taking an Algebra I course in a Kansas City area district are learning the same concepts as those enrolled in Algebra I in the Bootheel, Johnson said.

"We are developing a certain standard statewide that would hopefully add some consistency no matter what school you're at in the state," he said.