Four New England states - Rhode Island, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont - will be working together to develop common standards and tests in English and math for grades 3-8 in order to comply with the No Child Left Behind Act. Test development is a costly undertaking and, by joining forces, these states will be able to cut costs. The collaboration will also give the states more clout when negotiating with testing companies. The U.S. Department of Education has awarded them a grant of $1.78 million to support the effort. Perhaps more jurisdictions will come to realize that their fourth graders need to learn the same math skills as fourth graders across the state line, and collaborative efforts like this one will proliferate.
"Educators find strength in numbers for test," by Linda Borg, Providence Journal, February 21, 2003 [registration required]