Republican gubernatorial candidate Susana Martinez
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) - Republican gubernatorial candidate Susana Martinez wants to overhaul how New Mexico public school students are tested, contending it will help improve academic performance in a state where a third of kids fail to graduate from high school.
Martinez's proposal will mean more testing for students each school year and part of what she advocates was implemented last year in grades 9 and 10.
The Republican's school testing initiative was among the flash points in the first gubernatorial debate, which was held last month at a high school in Albuquerque that's among the three-fourths of schools statewide that missed the latest targets for boosting student achievement
Martinez proposes a new type of testing, called "short-cycle assessments," starting in the third grade.
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