Educators Begin Assembling Building Blocks for National Exam

By Robert Rothman

SNOWMASS, COLO.--A privately funded effort to develop a national examination system took a major step forward last month when some 450 educators and policymakers met here to lay the foundation for such a program.

During a weeklong workshop, teachers and curriculum specialists from 15 states and six school districts put together assessment tasks in mathematics, reading, and writing that could form the building blocks for a national exam.

At the same time, a group of local, state, and national officials agreed on a rough outline of the examination system, and began discussing steps needed to...