New Hampshire is getting the green light to continue a pilot program aimed at reducing standardized testing in schools.
The U.S. Department of Education on Thursday announced a one-year extension for New Hampshire's PACE program, which stands for Performance Assessment for Competency Education.
The federal No Child Left Behind law requires students to take statewide assessment tests each year in grades 3 through 8 and once in high school. But under the PACE program, students take the statewide tests in three grades instead of seven. In other years, they participate in locally developed assessments that ask them to apply what they have learned.
For example, fourth-grade math students might design a new park and write a letter explaining their cost calculations.
Nine districts are participating in the pilot.