藤兒點評：現世很多人不知道的一個事實，就是在崇尚個人自由精神的堂堂美國，也有人間地獄：一考定終生！而且是針對的僅僅年滿4歲的幼子們。規模之大，持續時間之長，令人嘆為觀止！大家相信嗎？

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來源：http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Educational_Records_Bureau#Membership

Educational Records Bureau

Educational Records Bureau (ERB) is the only not-for-profit educational services organization offering assessments for both admission and achievement for independent and selective public schools for Pre K-grade 12.

Founded in 1927, ERB's mission is to create testing and learning solutions that help schools develop improved curriculum, teaching, and learning through diagnosis of assessment results that address essential learning standards.

ERB is headquartered in New York City and has over 2000 independent school and public school members globally.

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來源：2013-09-20 大紀元

紐約知名私校將廢除入學招生測試

【大紀元2013年09月20日訊】（大紀元記者林南綜合報導）紐約知名私校將廢除入學招生測試的呼聲越來越高，預計明年春天，大多數私立及獨立學校可能會放棄統一標準化ERB(Educational Records Bureau)招生測試。    

《紐約時報》報導，代表大紐約地區130所私立和獨立學校的大紐約獨立學校招生協會（Independent School Admissions Association of Greater New York）本周表示，考慮到ERB考試補習及考前輔導泛濫，讓測試結果變得失去意義。該協會將不再建議其會員學校使用這個測驗。

專家表示，因為考前輔導泛濫，導致其“無法對兒童的閱讀潛能、智商和成績做出有效的推論，校方也清楚這項測試漏洞百出。”

該協會負責人海伊特（Patricia Hayot）說， 該協會跟考試管理者的合同將於明年春天結束。預計絕大多數學校將取消入學測試，但各學校在招生時可自由選擇是否針對學生繼續進行ERB測試。

自1966年參與管理ERB測試的一家非盈利組織ERB(Educational Records Bureau) 捍衛了其測試的功能。該組織的副主席曼加斯（Elizabeth Mangas）說:“我們認為，一個統一的評估標準符合學校、家長和兒童的最佳利益。”

過去數十年來，私校招生通常採用ERB測試，去年,3,173學生參加了該測試。最近在一項針對紐約市私立學校的調查中，80%報告說，他們發現,E.R.B.是有用的。

至少有一所學校迄今表示 ，它將堅持使用ERB入學測試。

海伊特說, 該協會正與一些專家共開發一項新的評估方案，可能考慮針對學生提供書面的評估標準，而不是只靠一個測試分數。

紐約市私立學校總是不愁生源，總是報名人數超過招生名額。根據全國獨立學校協會2012年的數據，紐約41所12年制私立學校學費過去十年來一年級學生學費按通脹調整之後上升48%，而全美私立學校同一年級學費上升35%；常青藤高校學費上漲24%。

在 紐約市名牌私立學校中，哥倫比亞語法和預科學校（Columbia Grammar and Preparatory）今年12年級的年學費為38,340美元，霍雷斯曼（Horace Mann）高年級學費37,275美元，均高於哈佛的年學費36,305美元。 

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來源：2013-09-20 Staff New York Business Journal

Getting Junior into that elite Manhattan kindergarten might require a new strategy

A group of New York City private schools plans to stop using an entrance exam derived from the Weschler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence, and offered by the Educational Records Bureau.

According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, that test has been used for almost 50 years as a tool to help schools select students for kindergarten or first grade, and last year 3,173 prospective students took the test, at a cost to parents of $568 per test. However, the Journal reported, officials at those schools now say doing away with that component in admissions will actually lead to fairer choices, since standardized testing of children that young isn’t all that reliable a measure of their overall abilities, and because those officials believe the test-preparation industry is skewing results.

Representatives of testing and tutoring companies countered that such tests represent an objective measure of all applicants, perhaps the only one that can be applied to all of them in reasonably similar circumstances, the Journal said. Furthermore, one tutoring company representative told the New York Times, concerned parents could simply turn to different forms of preparation in their quest to land spots in the most desirable private schools.

The schools group, the Independent School Admissions Association of Greater New York, represents 130 schools, and its agreement with ERB runs through March 2014, the Journal said.