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<b>First Posted:</b> 5/20/2009<br><br>JANINE UNGVARSKY Times Leader Correspondent 



BEAR CREEK TWP. -- Bear Creek Community Charter School students will no longer face a daunting 12-day schedule of standardized testing after the Board of Trustees voted Monday to replace the current tests with assessments that take a fraction of the time and Principal Margaret Foster says will provide more useful results.
The board accepted Foster&amp;rsquo;s recommendation to replace the Iowa Test of Basic Skills with 4 Sight testing and the CogAt cognitive ability test. 
Foster said 4 Sight testing takes about an hour three times a year and will provide results in a few days, instead of the months it can take with other standardized tests. CogAt tests provide a benchmark of students&amp;rsquo; academic potential to compare with their actual results and progress to determine which students need help to reach full potential, Foster said.
The new tests align with Pennsylvania standards instead of national standards and cost less, Foster said. Iowa testing costs approximately $9,300, while the 4 Sight tests will cost about $1,500 and the CogAt tests will run about $3,300.
&amp;ldquo;This is a very powerful academic tool,&amp;rdquo; Foster said. &amp;ldquo;This will provide us with quality information that&amp;rsquo;s live that we can use the next day in the classroom with our kids to get results.&amp;rdquo;
Also approved was a $3,000 salary increase for all full-time teachers. The move increases the starting salary for new teachers to $33,000 and includes a one-time compensation adjustment for current teachers as well. The increase will become effective in September.
In other business, the board:
&amp;bull; Approved a $1,500 subscription to the Wireless Notification Service for 13 months.
&amp;bull; Approved the purchase of heating oil from Newell Fuel Service at a cost not to exceed $2.399 per gallon for the 2009-10 school year.
&amp;bull; Approved a memorandum of understanding between the school and King&amp;rsquo;s College for the use of the college&amp;rsquo;s gym as an evacuation site.
&amp;bull; Ratified the addition of Vito Malacari to the substitute teacher list.

Bear Creek Charter School board votes to drop Iowa Tests