Posted at 12:24 p.m., Tuesday, April 15, 2003
Hawai'i schools in compliance, superintendent says
Advertiser Staff
State schools superintendent Pat Hamamoto today reversed her position and said the Department of Education is in compliance with a state law that requires standardized testing.Act 197, passed last year by the Legislature, requires standardized testing in grades 3 to 8 and one time in high school. The DOE this month is giving the tests in grades 3, 5, 8 and 10. But the state law also calls for compliance with the testing schedule of the federal No Child Left Behind Act. Right now, the department is on track with the federal law.
"After reviewing the legislation, it is clear that the department's actions are consistent with any reasonable interpretation of the law," Hamamoto said in a written statement. "There is nothing that says expanded testing was to begin this year."
Last week, when the executive director of the Hawai'i Automobile Dealers Association said he was disturbed to learn that the schools weren't doing standardized testing at every grade level, Hamamoto said that the schools were not in compliance with Act 197 because they were racing to implement the demands of No Child Left Behind.
