O-SenseAcross the nation, public school officials have come to believe children are spending too much time taking tests – many meant to measure and compare educational achievements across states and subjects.
Idaho is no different.
And a new Idaho Politics Weekly poll shows that a plurality of Idahoans believe high school students are spending too much time taking achievement tests.
Pollster Dan Jones & Associates finds that 40 percent of adults say high schoolers are taking too many tests.
Thirty percent say they are taking about the right amounts of tests while only 12 percent say they should be taking more achievement tests.
Eighteen percent don’t know, found Jones.
Mothers tend to have more to do with their children’s education than do fathers.
And Jones finds a distinct difference between the sexes’ opinions on high school student testing:
-- 45 percent of women say upper-grade students are taking too many tests, 26 percent say students are taking about the right amount while 13 percent say even more testing is needed. Seventeen percent don’t know.
-- Only 35 percent of men say high school students are taking too many tests, 34 percent say it about right, 11 percent say more testing is needed. And 20 percent don’t know.
Finally, Jones broke out the findings among various age groups.
Those nearest to high school – ages 18-29 – had these opinions:
-- 45 percent said there is too much testing, 30 percent said the testing is about right, 19 percent they should have been taking more tests when they were in high school, and 6 percent didn’t know.
Jones polled 603 adults from Nov. 18-28, a margin of error of plus or minus 3.99 percent.
