Testing Reform in the News -- November 30 - December 6, 2012

If your find these regular updates of stories about the growing resistance to high-stakes testing as well as the obstacles we still to surmount, please consider making a year-end donation to FairTest by going to  http://tinyurl.com/FairTest2012

Grassroots Furor Forces Texas Politicians to Back Down on Testing Overuse -- a small step in the right direction
  http://www.statesman.com/news/news/education-commissioner-staar-scores-will-not-count/nTKC4/

  http://www.statesman.com/news/news/patrick-bill-calls-for-change-to-staar/nTJTc/

Testing Consortium Scales Back Performance Items -- as predicted, the "new" tests will be predominantly multiple-choice
  http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2012/11/30/13tests.h32.html

• see also FairTest's fact sheet -- Common Core: More Tests But Not Much Better http://fairtest.org/common-core-assessments-more-tests-not-much-better

Exit Exam is a Drag on State Graduation Rates -- a good example of a letter-to-the-editor that moves our message
  http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/letters/2012/12/04/exit-exam-drag-state-graduation-rate/qTJaHCrph9n4M7dmpIlFvO/story.html

A "Value-Added" Travesty for an Award-Winning Teacher
  http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2012/12/03/a-value-added-travesty-for-an-award-winning-teacher/
 

State Botches New Teacher Evaluation
   http://www.tampabay.com/news/education/teachers/new-ranking-system-concludes-that-more-than-95-percent-of-florida-teachers/1264717

• see also FairTest's fact sheet -- Why Teacher Evaluation Should Not Rest on Student Test Scores http://fairtest.org/sites/default/files/Teacher-Evaluation-FactSheet-10-12.pdf

It's Time We Ditched the College Admissions Tests
  http://www.takepart.com/article/2012/12/03/is-it-time-ditch-college-admissions-tests

Yet Another Pearson Testing Error
  http://www.statesman.com/news/news/local-education/computer-glitch-prevents-some-texas-students-from-/nTMCP/

Could Millions Going to High-Stakes Testing Be Better Spent -- actually billions and billions
  http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/12/05/4463534/could-millions-going-to-high-stakes.html