Maneki Neko
04-23-2007, 10:36 AM
National achievement test due next week
<DIV id=writer>By Akemi Nakamura
Staff writer
<DIV id=mainbody>
The education ministry Tuesday will conduct its first National Assessment of Academic Ability in 43 years. The nationwide test is designed to check academic achievement in elementary school sixth-graders and third-year junior high school students.
The results will give the ministry vital information on academic performance and will pressure both schools and students to improve. Some experts, however, are concerned that the results may allow the public to rank the schools and that the resulting competition will become excessive and produce negative effects.
Read the full story at Japan Times Online (http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20070421f1.html)
<DIV id=writer>By Akemi Nakamura
Staff writer
<DIV id=mainbody>
The education ministry Tuesday will conduct its first National Assessment of Academic Ability in 43 years. The nationwide test is designed to check academic achievement in elementary school sixth-graders and third-year junior high school students.
The results will give the ministry vital information on academic performance and will pressure both schools and students to improve. Some experts, however, are concerned that the results may allow the public to rank the schools and that the resulting competition will become excessive and produce negative effects.
Read the full story at Japan Times Online (http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20070421f1.html)