State tries out new reading test

Students in grades 3-8 and 11 will be trying out a new statewide reading exam, that officials hope to roll out for real in 2010.

In a little more than a week, students in schools across Nebraska will sit down at computers and desks and take part in a statewide reading pilot test.

The test will take place over three weeks starting April 13 and will involve nearly all of Nebraska’s 254 school districts, as well as nearly 140,000 students in grades 3-8 and 11.

The massive enterprise is the culmination of a nearly two-year effort to revise state reading standards and develop the statewide reading assessment.

In the front row, Josh Johnson (from left), Shannon Robinson, and Dani Cash concentrate on identifying vocabulary words during group reading in Vicki Karre’s 5th-grade Saratoga Elementary class on April 17, 2007. (LJS File)

In the front row, Josh Johnson (from left), Shannon Robinson, and Dani Cash concentrate on identifying vocabulary words during group reading in Vicki Karre’s 5th-grade Saratoga Elementary class on April 17, 2007. (LJS File)

And while the results won’t count, the pilot test will help state education officials better fashion the actual reading assessment, which they plan to roll out officially in spring 2010.