Testing, testing...

Sunday's Berkshire Eagle had an article on the increasing amount of testing in Massachusetts schools.

For many high schools, this past week was full of finals: end-of-the-year exams given by teachers to determine how well students learned the subjects they were taught. Earlier this month, all public-school students in the state in grades 3 through 8 and Grade 10 finished the math and English portions of the MCAS. (Students have the opportunity to retake the tests in grades 11 and 12 if they fail them in Grade 10.)

Students in grades 5 and 8 and some high school students also took MCAS tests in science and technology/engineering.

The state board of education piloted MCAS science and history exams in 2006 and 2007. And though the Class of 2010 will have to pass the science tests to graduate, the state board of education voted to hold off two years on giving the history test, largely because of cost.

Though MCAS tests are untimed, the average third-grader spends 41 2 hours in test sessions, and the average 10th-grader spends nearly 10 hours, according to state data.

Additional school-required exams vary from 10 minutes to three hours in length.