ECU honor society to hold public debate on testing

On the heels of discussion by presidential and gubernatorial candidates on making schools accountable for what students learn, East Carolina University will sponsor a public debate on Monday, Nov. 27, on the issue of educational testing.

ECU’s chapter of Phi Kappa Phi, a national honor society, will sponsor the program entitled “Accountability and Testing in North Carolina: On the Track or Headed for Derailment?” at 7:30 p.m. in the J. H. Rose High School gymnasium. The public is invited.

The debate will feature Dr. Irvin J. Besecker, State Coordinator for NC Citizens for Democratic Schools who opposes educational testing, and Luis (Lou) Fabrizio, director of the accountability section for the N.C. Department of Public Instruction who favors it.

Dr. Thomas Feldbush, an ECU vice chancellor and member of Phi Kappa Phi, said Greenville debate is one of the firsts between the two individuals.

“Many people including teachers and parents are very interested in this issue,” he said. “It will be a lively and educational evening.”

Dr. Marilyn Sheerer, dean of the ECU School of Education, will serve as moderator. Besecker is a teacher and coach at West Forsyth High School in Winston-Salem where he has taught since 1988. He has held other teaching positions since 1971. In the past several years he has been a promoter for change and improvement in the public schools.

He wrote “The Insanity of Testing Mania,” as a column for the Winston-Salem Journal. Fabrizio was appointed to head the Division of Accountability Services in 1996. Before rejoining the N.C. Department of Public Instruction, he was an assessment consultant with CTB/McGraw-Hill and worked in 11 states. He serves on the Technical Advisory Committee for the Voluntary National Test and is a member of the Assessment Subcommittee of the Council of Chief State School Officers’ Education Information Advisory Committee.