Bonnie Palmer, an inclusion teacher for the special education department at Lipsey School; and Bryce Porter, a math teacher at the alternative school at Mullins School, are two of only about 20 teachers chosen from around the state to inspect, review and recommend adjustments to the Mississippi Curriculum Test. The test is an annual exam issued to grades three through eight that judges the progress of education in Mississippi.

Cindy Simmons, director of the Mississippi Department of Education's Office of Student Assessment, said the Test Item and Bias Review committees meet with officials from MCT2 publisher Pearson Education to make sure the test is accurate, challenging and fair.

"The test vendor creates (test) items, and the committee looks at items to determine if they're aligned to the curriculum, appropriate to grade level and do what they're supposed to do," she said.

Committee members have the power to shape the MCT2 by modifying or outright rejecting test questions, Simmons said.

New or modified questions are "hidden" on the exam for a field test, in which the un-graded answers are sent to the committees for review. Trends developing within the answers to field test questions are reviewed by the Test Item Review Committee, giving Porter a say-so in whether the question should go forward for permanent test placement or be scrapped.

During the review process, Palmer and her Bias Review Committee will also be summoned to make sure the questions chosen are fair to children of all backgrounds. Simmons said the bias committee makes sure the questions aren't tilted toward a particular geographical area, socioeconomic condition or family situation. Questions that would be obvious to students of a certain area and give them an advantage are generalized, she said, and religion is avoided entirely.

"We just don't represent something that is not the norm for everybody," she said. "We're trying to appeal to our entire population."

The committee's modifications to the MCT2 are not disclosed.

Porter, who has already finished meeting with the Test Item Review Committee to inspect the math portion of the MCT2, is participating in the process for the third time in 2009, and he said each trip he makes to Jackson to serve on the committees makes him a better educator. He said his committee reviewed more than 100 questions in two August meetings.

"I think all teachers should have the experience to go up there and see how the tests are designed," he said. "I love the opportunity to do it. It will help you try to cover all objectives more. Other than that, it just helps to meet and talk with other people involved in testing."

Palmer, whose Bias Review Committee meets at the end of September to inspect the language arts portion of the MCT2, is participating in the process for the second time. She, too, said the review process sharpens a teacher's edge.

"It makes you real conscious of what is taking place in the classroom," she said. "The MCT2 is very important. It's a real good scale for what is being taught and what is learned by the students."

Brookhaven School District Superintendent Lea Barrett said sending Palmer and Porter to be a part of the review process is a growth opportunity for the district. They are the only two teachers from Lincoln County participating this year.

"It's important for every Mississippi teacher to have some input into this process, to have the chance to exchange ideas and discuss the testing process," Barrett said.