Bennett, Long Thompson Spar Over ISTEP Testing

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(JEFFERSONVILLE) - Republican State Superintendent candidate Tony Bennett is taking shots at Democratic gubernatorial challenger Jill Long Thompson over her stance on standardized testing in Hoosier schools.

Superintendent candidate Tony Bennett of Jeffersonville took umbrage with Long Thompson and Lieutenant Governor Democratic challenger Dennie Oxley when they told the Evansville Courier-Press that they don't agree with the state's ISTEP standardized testing program, which Bennett promotes.

However, standardized testing, championed by President Bush in his "No Child Left Behind" program, has yet to quit generating controversy, since studies have shown increased costs and arguable benefits to public schools.

Currently, Pew Trusts research studies have ranked Indiana public schools #25 in achievement, and given the state a grade of "C."

A CNN research study aired in 2005 found that, in school districts in Houston and Norfolk that had high-stakes testing prior to No Child Left Behind, increases in those test scores didn't equate to increases in SAT or ACT scores, graduation nor college enrollment.

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