A group of student activists opposed to international standard testing launched another effort this week to foil a national mathematics examination. They almost succeeded, with the help of the Internet.

The activists got hold of the math exam Monday and put it out on the Internet, thus enabling a sneak peak at what 10th graders were supposed to see for the first time in class on Tuesday.



State officials immediately said the test would be administered anyway.



The student activists tried to foil the examination attempt because they want state authorities to postpone the national math exam until next year. They also don’t want to see exam results publicized on a school-by-school or township-by-township basis.



The students also want teachers to receive compensation for correcting the tests, and they want the content of the exam to reflect Norwegian teaching plans, not those of researchers at the international Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).



The student activists, calling themselves “Elevakjonistene,” tried to upset an earlier national exam as well and the education ministry thinks their efforts are misguided.



“It’s difficult to deal with a group that won’t enter into a dialogue with us,” Eldbjørg Torsøe of the education ministry told news bureau NTB. “The national testing will continue regardless, but we are making changes and improvements.”



The test was to be administered to around 60,000 10th graders on Tuesday. At least 10,000 of them are believed to have seen the test by early Tuesday morning.



More here.