lee Bo eee BA ME Sa Standardized Testin g Program _ S SPACKS OF TEST | districts new of « ment tests that cover the mastery 7 T. H. (Ted) Bell. of basic subjects. “This meth of testing will group the stud od ents on t _ /377 e, ambition and intelligence , They also -take into a | Stages of intellectual] youngsters who mature more rapidly or more slowly than others. “Al children at the age of 6 do hot have the same need s and have not developed at a unif orm rate,” Supt, Bell said by way of illustration. “If we are to do a i) __ better job by our youth, we must take this into account. * the basis of what they have achieved in school and hot on their 1Q. By doing this we | The tests. take the measure won’t of be putting a ‘dumb’ and ‘sma ptudents in Many ways. rt’ They at- label. on anyone.” tempt to assess his mental : maturThe new plan will not be conity, his rate of achievem ent, his ducted in the Wilson, @riv “We must have more extensiv e educational offerings and more and better alternatives than West ber and Valley Schools, since Wethey one room per grade. ols will carry on with the current program. This activity will put scho | principals on a 10-month cont ol ract, instead of the present ninemonth. It will take that extra month for principals to sum marize the testing and organize groupings. “We do not Propose this pro-| gram as the final answer. As wep learn from our experiences in it, | we will surely plan On some fu- to _ ; merely place all children of age ture modifications (6 in a class without regard to it and make it more to ‘strengthen e€iiective durthese growth, development and ing succeeding years,” maturation factors.” the intendent said. a § ee oe eae ie gee 4 ts MOR we ge ON a a A new “grouping program” On the other hand, wherever which will give students of difit proves Possible, all youngste rs ferent achievement levels a_bet - will continue to mix together for ter break in the classroom will physical education, music and sobe introduced in the county Clal activ ities. schools next fall, Supt. T. H. (Ted) Bell said today. TEACHERS TO BENEFIT - A standardized testing prog ram Teachers stand to benefit from upon which the groupings will based is already under way be the program, too. Grouping by in achi the county district. More evement will eliminate _ the than 10,000 students wil] have taken old problem of how to Keep the the exhaustive examination be- more capable student oecupied fore the end of next week, he said. The tests—a battery of tests, while those with a slow learning rate are struggling to keep really—take about half a up. day to complete and provide educ As for the pupil, the only limiators with a highly accurate: gaug tation on advancement “will. e be measuring a youngster’s achie for ve- his own particular ability ment level, the superintende or his | nt ‘own parti cular desire to work Said. inane The grouping program has to achi eve and to grow inthe unanimous approval of the ‘Coun- tellectually. ty School Board and the whole. || “We feel the program is one hearted end orsement of all ele-|tha t is more democratic in that mentary and secondary princ ipals: it .rewards the ambitious and of the district. greatly eliminates an artif icial equality of unequals.” 7 The new plan is a result of ries of discussions and planninga } . Louis Sessions between the admi nist “phenomenal re- tive staff and the elementary raand Supt. Bell said. Both the secon students and the student distri dary school principals of the ct. It is widel y advocated by und classwork difficult to many prominent educators. '|Master benefitted substantially, Supt. Bell emphasized that the {he said. tests to be given are not TQ tests, They are standardized achi eve- ee oe ae ae Ae Under Way, 10,000 Take Exams