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Letter: Only a test can evaluate mastery

Friday, May 21, 2004 | 5:48 a.m.

WEEKEND EDITION

May 22 - 23, 2004

Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani says that a single test -- the high school proficiency exam -- should not determine whether someone receives a diploma. Perhaps she has a point, but I wonder how she would feel if her doctor didn't bother to pass the medical board exam, or if a lawyer she went to had failed to pass the state bar exam, or if perhaps her accountant had failed the CPA exam.

The rationale of testing is to determine if high school graduates in Nevada are knowledgeable about the subject matter they have been taking over the past four years in school. If they aren't, they don't deserve the diploma that they failed to earn.

I wonder what Giunchigliani thinks of the fact that one-third of college freshmen in Nevada need to take remedial math and English courses -- even though they have a diploma in their hands?

BILL PARKER

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