LANSING, MI (AP)-- Michigan's new, more rigorous standardized test would be eliminated and replaced under budget legislation that has won preliminary approval from a House subcommittee.
The Republican-led school aid panel voted Tuesday to eliminate the M-STEP. It was administered for the first time last spring after replacing the longstanding Michigan Education Assessment Program, or MEAP.
Republican Subcommittee Chairman Tim Kelly says lawmakers and state Superintendent Brian Whiston are interested in a "computer-adaptive" test for which results can be distributed to teachers and parents sooner. He says many schools already are using an assessment developed by the Northwest Evaluation Association, so using that could cut the hours students are being tested.
The panel concurred with Governor Rick Snyder's proposed funding increase ranging between $60 and $120 per student in the next school year.
