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Parents question giving students incentives to raise test scores

FRIDAY, MAY 27, 2011 15:33 PM



According to the California STAR website, last year, a total of 935 students took the test at Novato High School, each with his or her own reasons for performing well.

However, many parents were upset to hear that students at this school were given rewards if they raised their California STAR testing scores, Novato's Patch website reports. At this institution, students who raised their results by 100 points or more were able to enter a raffle for electronic devices like iPads and iPhones.

Although some parents did not approve of the idea, school principal Rey Mayoral said that it is not an uncommon practice for students to be given incentives to raise their testing scores.

"We are not doing anything different [from what] many, many other schools across the state are doing," he told the news outlet.

Maria Rohner Storniolo, a parent of a child at the school, told the news provider that the system bothered her because students who consistently performed well on the test and were unable to further improve their scores were not eligible to participate in the raffle. Like other parents, Storniolo also questioned how the school was able to pay for the Apple electronics.



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