If the issues were not so serious, watching test-and-punish advocates backpedal in the face of the rapidly growing testing resistance movement would be great entertainment. From U.S.

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

Forum on Educational Accountability has issued a simplified set of Recommendations for Improving Federal Law' to guide an overhaul of ESEA/NCLB, waivers and related federal law and policy.

Another week of accelerating protests against high-stakes testing. If you find these news summaries useful for your assessment reform work, please contribute to help FairTest http://tinyurl.com/supportfairtest as suggested by Michelle Fine in her acceptance speech at last week's "Heroes in Education" awards presentation          

for further information:                                                                  
Bob Schaeffer     (239) 395-6773

                                                               for immediate release May 7, 2014

The 2014 round of standardized exam administration got underway in several states this week. As predicted by FairTest and our Testing Resistance & Reform Spring (TRRS) allies, opt-out campaigns and other forms of protest exploded in many communities. In just the past three days, we've seen so many great news clips that we could not wait until our normal Tuesday distribution date to circulate them nationally. 

Anyone who still believes that the resistance to testing misuse and overuse is confined to a few big cities and "liberal" activists, should click through this week's news clips. In fact, testing protests are spreading across "deep red" states" such as Alaska, Tennessee, Texas and Utah. And "conservative" commentators are speaking out against standardized exam overkill.

Last weekend's Network for Public Education conference in Austin provided another boost for the growing power of campaigns to overhaul school testing policies -- many plenaries and workshops addressed assessment issues.  This week's large batch of clips shows the breadth and depth of the movement. 

The Rising Tide of Opt Outs
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/curriculum/2014/03/opting_out_of_testing.html

Executive Summary[1]

Testimony of Lisa Guisbond
Policy Analyst for the National Center for Fair & Open Testing (FairTest)
Rhode Island House Committee on Health, Education and Welfare
State of Rhode Island General Assembly

February 26, 2014

Forum on Educational Accountability

http://www.edaccountability.org

for further information:
Dr. Monty Neill (617) 477-9792

for use on or after Wednesday, February 19, 2014

NAT’L EDUCATION LEADERS PROPOSE PRINCIPLES FOR CONGRESSIONAL COMPROMISE ON “NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND” REPLACEMENT