Test-Governing Panel Contemplates Halting Trend-Data Collection

By David J. Hoff

Washington

The board that oversees the "nation's report card" is contemplating whether to stop collecting data that show trends going back 30 years.

Over the next year, the National Assessment Governing Board will evaluate its commitment to versions of the National Assessment of Educational Progress that date back almost three decades and to a mathematics exam that it started giving in 1990.

By halting the tests begun in 1970, the board could run state-by-state tests more often than it now does, and by reworking the math test, the board would ensure that its content reflects the current...