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Education Secretary Rebecca Holcombe On New Test Results

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Results from Vermont's Smarter Balanced test, or SBAC, are being released to the public on August 24th.

Earlier this year, Vermont students took the new "Smarter Balanced" standardized test, or SBAC. The results of that test are being released to the public on Monday, Aug. 24.

The state has already made the decision not to use the SBAC results to rank schools, citing several reasons, including concerns about the tech skills needed to take the computer-based test, the lack of conclusive studies linking SBAC performance to student readiness, and the fact that the students taking the test had not been taught according to standards that have only recently been set.

Nonetheless, the results may show something about the state of education in Vermont. After announcing the results at a press conference at 10 a.m., Education Secretary Rebecca Holcombe will join us at noon to discuss them, and what the next steps for the state's education are.

Also on the program, there's debate over South Burlington High School's nickname: "the Rebels." It's been decades since the name was explicitly linked to Confederate imagery, but some residents say the school should nix the nickname altogether. We'll hear from Molly Walsh of Seven Days, who has been covering the story.

And we read your mail!

Jane Lindholm is the host, executive producer and creator of But Why: A Podcast For Curious Kids. In addition to her work on our international kids show, she produces special projects for Vermont Public. Until March 2021, she was host and editor of the award-winning Vermont Public program Vermont Edition.
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