Computer System Gets Partial Credit for Increases in Test Scores

By Robert Rothman

A new computer system is partly responsible for dramatic increases in student-test scores in Montgomery County, Md., school officials there suggest.

Releasing the results of the statewide functional reading and mathematics tests last month, officials in the affluent Washington suburb reported that 9th graders passed the test at a record-high rate. Moreover, black and Hispanic students made significant gains, district administrators noted.

These increases came about, officials said, in part because of the new $18,000-per-school computer system that enables principals and teachers to identify students' strengths and...