Paradoxically, the low score may well be a sign of excellence. Weston kids, carefully tutored to write in an objective manner, didn t have a clue as to how to handle the immature CMT questions. In the math portion of the CMT, the correct answer seems to have little weight. Instead the test is more concerned with how to solve a problem. Unlike the SAT, portions of the CMT are graded by people, and not by machine.
Scorers examine students writing samples and give subjective grades.
Unfortunately, we cannot examine actual scored CMT s, because they have not been made available to parents or to school officials. However, leaked tests from other states are beginning to shed some light. As a Weston property-tax payer and a concerned citizen, I praise Mr. Trigaux s candid criticism of the CMT s scoring methodologies and recommend ignoring the CMT s in any contemplated curriculum redesign for the Weston school system. Instead, we should continue to favor the traditional nationwide standardized tests. Indeed, state Representative Paul Tymniak has introduced legislation that would require the continued use of such standardized tests.