Author: FairTest

The US House of Representatives Education Committee held hearings on “accountability” May 7, 2013. FairTest submitted testimony opposing high-stakes testing and test-based accountability and supporting educationally sound approaches to assessment and accountability. See the PDF of the testimony here. Attachment Size FT-Testimony-House-Ed-Comm-account-May2013.pdf 197.74 KB

for further information: Bob Schaeffer (239) 395-6773 cell (239) 699-0468 for immediate release, Monday, May 6, 2013 WIDESPREAD COMPUTERIZED TESTING STILL “NOT READY FOR PRIME TIME”; ACT ANNOUNCES AUTOMATED COLLEGE ADMISSIONS EXAM ON SAME DAY KENTUCKY SCRAPS THE FIRM’S K-12 TESTS FOR SYSTEM FAILURE; FIVE OTHER STATES HAD MAJOR COMPUTER EXAM PROBLEMS IN LAST MONTH […]

After reading this week’s clips, even last-ditch defenders of the test-and-punish regime will have to admit that a huge wave of protests against standardized exam misuse and overuse is sweeping the nation. On Capitol Hill in DC, where I’ve been much of this week, the message is definitely being heard, “Enough is enough — roll […]

School testing season is underway, with stories covering boycotts, opt-out campaigns, rallies and, unfortunately, scandals in hundreds of media outlets around the nation. If you know of other activists, journalists or policy-makers who would benefit from receiving these weekly news summaries, please send me their email addresses. Lessons from Atlanta Cheating Scandal http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/04/07/-atlanta-school-cheating-scandal-column/2044107/ NY Parents […]

It’s been a watershed week in the campaign for better forms of assessment for children and schools. Indictments in the Atlanta cheating scandal reveal rot at the core of the test-and-punish strategy while protests by parents, teachers, and students are exploding around the nation, including the U.S. Department of Education startingon Thursday, April 4. Atlanta […]

for further information: Bob Schaeffer (239) 395-6773 cell (239) 699-0468 for immediate release, Thursday, March 28, 2013 STANDARDIZED EXAM CHEATING CONFIRMED IN 37 STATES AND D.C.;NEW REPORT SHOWS WIDESPREAD TEST SCORE CORRUPTION As an Atlanta grand jury considers indictments against former top school officials in a test cheating scandal and the annual wave of high-stakes […]

There’s significant progress to report this week with legislatures in both Arizona and Texas passing proposals to reign in testing overkill. At the same time, assessment reform action is escalating in another dozen states. Keep the pressure on . . . and send us your best clips for circulation to allies around the nation. Parents […]

In less than a week, there’s news of progress in the movement to resist high-stakes testing overkill from Rhode Island, Washington, Colorado, Oregon, Texas, New York, Florida, Minnesota and Oklahoma. Meanwhile, those who profit from promoting standardized exams — financially and politically — stubbornly try to “stay the course” no matter how much damage to […]

Click here for the March 2013 FairTest Examiner Newsletter.

UPDATE: May 20, 2013>>FairTest ceremony awarding Kozol was a great success – you can help honor Jonathan The May 9 event honoring Jonathan Kozol was a great success – excellent speeches, fine food, wonderful setting, and great people. You can still honor Jonathan and help FairTest by making a donation in his honor. Date and […]