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Local business leaders accused school districts of graduating students who are unqualified and unprepared for the work force while educators argued that more testing won't improve student achievement during a special public hearing of the state board of education Thursday at Parkland High School.

''You cannot make the assumption that scoring less than proficient is failure

Adams told the board that many of her students have a learning disability or simply don't test well, but are diligent workers and eager to learn. They are now college students, skilled workers, or serve in the armed forces. But they might not have been able to graduate if they were required to pass a test. Some would have eventually passed, but others would have dropped out, she said.

As the first generation of computer-literate students works their way through the school system, they are learning from interactive programs.

The technology also helps teachers craft individual lesson plans based on a student's ability and share data with parents.

She said she brings her students to the computer lab before she starts any new chapter in math to give the class a pre-test. Odyssey creates an instant spreadsheet for Clipper, showing her how every student answered each question.

Students and researchers now have greater access to primary source materials for historical research than ever before.