news

Good reading about progress and challenges for Independence Day . . . and beyond

High-Stakes Testing Resistance Spreads
   http://www.thebradentontimes.com/news/2012/06/30/schools_and_education/high_stakes_testing_resistance_spreads_across_florida/

The 2011-2012 public school year has now wrapped up everywhere in the country, but journalists continue to crank out important stories about testing problems and alternatives. Still considerable action in Texas, Florida, and DC -- three places where high-stakes testing is most out of control.

Incomplete Report on DC Cheating Ignores Testing Scandals Under Michele Rhee

for further information:
Dr. Monty Neill  (617) 477-9792
Bob Schaeffer     (239) 395-6773

for immediate release, Tuesday, June 26, 2012

HIGH-STAKES TESTING RESISTANCE SPREADS ACROSS NATION;
RESOLUTIONS, BOYCOTTS, OPT-OUTS SHOW INCREASED PUBLIC OPPOSITION
TO FAILED “TEST-AND-PUNISH” SCHOOL POLICIES

Even as the academic year winds down, the pace of stories about high-stakes testing flaws and support for assessment alternatives has not slowed one bit

Video -- Growing National Movement Against High-Stakes Public School Testing
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=gbdTheK9uqY

Pop Quiz on Testing
  http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2012/06/13/35guisbond.h31.html

Published in

Education Week

June 11, 2012 (on line) and June 13 (print), 2012
Commentary
By Lisa Guisbond

There has been no let up in grassroots pressure to overhaul assessment even as the school year winds to a close around the nation.

Florida Exam-Scoring Fiasco Reveals Flaws of Test-Driven Schooling
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/11/education/florida-backtracks-on-standardized-state-tests.html

See video footage: FairTest Honors Diane Ravitch with the Deborah W. Meier Hero in Education Award, June 5, 2012.
 

FairTest, in collaboration with independent counselor Elizabeth Stone, generated such strong public pressure that the College Board was forced to withdraw its plan to offer a unique, mid-summer SAT only for students enrolled in a special program at Amherst College which costs $4,500. See the story here.

for further information:
Bob Schaeffer     (239) 395-6773
Elizabeth Stone   (650) 579-6180

for use after 10:30am EDT, Monday, June 4, 2012

FAIR TESTING ADVOCATES URGE COLLEGE BOARD: CANCEL SPECIAL, AUGUST 3 “RICH KIDS SAT”

The National Center for Fair & Open Testing (FairTest) and independent counselor Dr. Elizabeth Stone, who exposed a controversial plan to administer an official SAT exam on August 3 only to students enrolled in a $4,500 program, today called on the College Board to cancel that test.