Black and white students score far apart on a new test of technology skills

The first attempt by the “nation’s report card” to measure students’ ability to think creatively and use technology found wide racial achievement gaps — and evidence that schools aren’t effectively teaching important skills.

The National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP, has long been the only way to compare student test scores in math and reading across states. In 2014, amid growing calls for testing to go beyond basic academic skills, the group added a new exam to measure students’ “technology and engineering literacy,” or their ability to solve real-world problems. The test asked them to follow a series of steps to complete tasks such as designing a bike lane that increases safety and improving the environment for a class pet.

http://www.chalkbeat.org/posts/us/2016/05/17/black-and-white-students-score-far-apart-on-a-new-test-of-technology-skills/