It’s a little known fact that in North Carolina, EOG tests – until this week known as End-of-Grade tests – have been dubbed by the public, Erase our Guilt tests. And instead of testing students, which was common practice before, this new test is designed to test the accountability of the Department of Public Instruction. Even before the change, which took place just yesterday, Lindalyn Kakadelis was urging for an EOG change, noting how unreliable the previous test was at measuring student performance. At a scheduled news conference, State Board of Education Chairman Howard Lee, regretted to inform the public that scores would not be released. Many, including the John Locke Foundation, noted the well-timed refusal to release scores, hypothesizing that they were probably abysmally low – even lower than what was projected for the new increase in standards. Lindalyn demanded that someone be held accountable. The outrage prompted the quiet release of test scores. Predictions proved prophetic: many schools failed to meet higher benchmarks. With important local elections just next week, Terry Stoops sees a backlash coming. Did education officials pass their EOG tests?
