Schools may get a break on tests

Teachers may see plentiful bonuses

RALEIGH -- In a potential financial windfall for teachers, the state is about to make it easier for educators to get bonuses and for schools to pass federal testing requirements.

The State Board of Education will vote this week on whether to eliminate the results of several new exams expected to have low passing rates when determining whether teachers will get bonuses. The change likely means teachers will get millions of dollars more from the state than they would have if those tests were counted this year.

The state board will also seek federal permission to use lower standards to determine whether a school is complying with the No Child Left Behind law.

A state board committee will discuss the changes today. A final vote is scheduled for Thursday.

"We're going through a transition year," said Lou Fabrizio, director of accountability services for the state Department of Public Instruction. "It's hard to equate with prior years."

Under the state's ABCs Accountability program, schools are held responsible for how their students perform on state exams. Teachers and other school employees are eligible for bonuses depending on whether a school's tests scores show enough academic improvement.

Bonuses for teachers can either be $750 or $1,500 depending on test results. Last year, the state awarded teachers more than $100 million in bonuses.

But for this year, the most notable change that state education officials are recommending is not using new end-of-grade reading exams, offered in grades 3-8, when determining bonuses. Educators expect the passing rate to fall sharply on the new exams, which students will begin taking in May.

Fabrizio said educators want to avoid a repeat of the anxiety that occurred in 2006 when both passing rates and bonuses dropped after new end-of-grade math exams were counted. Results also weren't released until November, much later than normal, so the state could review the data and set the passing rates.

Fabrizio said state education officials again won't be able to determine bonuses if they use the reading results, which this year won't be ready until around early November.

State educators don't want to count the end-of-grade reading exams for the federal No Child Left Behind requirements.

Under No Child Left Behind, schools must evaluate students in groups according to race, family income, English proficiency and other factors. If any group doesn't measure up on state reading and math tests, the entire school is considered deficient.

Fabrizio also wants to ask the U.S. Education Department to let the state use a five-year high school graduation rate. It's now set at four years.