A select group of teachers from around Mississippi that meetsannually to review one the biggest state tests issued in publicschools will include a pair of Brookhaven educators this year.

Bonnie Palmer, an inclusion teacher for the special educationdepartment at Lipsey School; and Bryce Porter, a math teacher atthe alternative school at Mullins School, are two of only about 20teachers chosen from around the state to inspect, review andrecommend adjustments to the Mississippi Curriculum Test. The testis an annual exam issued to grades three through eight that judgesthe progress of education in Mississippi.

Cindy Simmons, director of the Mississippi Department ofEducation’s Office of Student Assessment, said the Test Item andBias Review committees meet with officials from MCT2 publisherPearson Education to make sure the test is accurate, challengingand fair.

“The test vendor creates (test) items, and the committee looksat items to determine if they’re aligned to the curriculum,appropriate to grade level and do what they’re supposed to do,” shesaid.

Committee members have the power to shape the MCT2 by modifyingor outright rejecting test questions, Simmons said.

New or modified questions are “hidden” on the exam for a fieldtest, in which the un-graded answers are sent to the committees forreview. Trends developing within the answers to field testquestions are reviewed by the Test Item Review Committee, givingPorter a say-so in whether the question should go forward forpermanent test placement or be scrapped.

During the review process, Palmer and her Bias Review Committeewill also be summoned to make sure the questions chosen are fair tochildren of all backgrounds. Simmons said the bias committee makessure the questions aren’t tilted toward a particular geographicalarea, socioeconomic condition or family situation. Questions thatwould be obvious to students of a certain area and give them anadvantage are generalized, she said, and religion is avoidedentirely.

“We just don’t represent something that is not the norm foreverybody,” she said. “We’re trying to appeal to our entirepopulation.”

The committee’s modifications to the MCT2 are not disclosed.

Porter, who has already finished meeting with the Test ItemReview Committee to inspect the math portion of the MCT2, isparticipating in the process for the third time in 2009, and hesaid each trip he makes to Jackson to serve on the committees makeshim a better educator. He said his committee reviewed more than 100questions in two August meetings.

“I think all teachers should have the experience to go up thereand see how the tests are designed,” he said. “I love theopportunity to do it. It will help you try to cover all objectivesmore. Other than that, it just helps to meet and talk with otherpeople involved in testing.”

Palmer, whose Bias Review Committee meets at the end ofSeptember to inspect the language arts portion of the MCT2, isparticipating in the process for the second time. She, too, saidthe review process sharpens a teacher’s edge.

“It makes you real conscious of what is taking place in theclassroom,” she said. “The MCT2 is very important. It’s a real goodscale for what is being taught and what is learned by thestudents.”

Brookhaven School District Superintendent Lea Barrett saidsending Palmer and Porter to be a part of the review process is agrowth opportunity for the district. They are the only two teachersfrom Lincoln County participating this year.

“It’s important for every Mississippi teacher to have some inputinto this process, to have the chance to exchange ideas and discussthe testing process,” Barrett said.