FairTest's Op Ed in The Atlanta Journal Constitution: When put to a test, testing culture flunks
By Robert Schaeffer Across the U.S., the politically mandated misuse of standardized tests is damaging public schools and the children they serve. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s investigation of suspicious test scores around the nation is just the latest example. Experts may debate the methodology, but there is no question that cheating on standardized exams is widespread. […]
FairTest's comment on the U.S. Education Department's Proposed Priorities for the Teacher Incentive Fund.
FairTest submitted a comment in response to the U.S. Education Department’s Proposed Priorities for the Teacher Incentive Fund. Find it here. Attachment Size Teacher_Incentive_Fund_draft_guidance_-_comments_from_FairTest.pdf 140.88 KB
Testimony of FairTest's Robert Schaeffer on Teacher Testing
TESTIMONY OF ROBERT A. SCHAEFFERNATIONAL CENTER FOR FAIR & OPEN TESTING (FAIRTEST)IN FAVOR OF REP. JOHN STASIK’S SUBSTITUTE FOR H. 1159BEFORE THE JOINT COMMITTEE ON EDUCATIONJUNE 15, 1999 Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. I am Robert Schaeffer, the Public Education Director of the National Center for Fair & Open Testing. Founded in […]
FairTest's Letter on High Stakes Testing to the Equity Commission
March 27, 2012 The Equity and Excellence Commission: Dear Members of the Commission: The National Center for Fair & Open Testing (FairTest) is concerned about the damage done to educational equity and excellence by the use of high-stakes testing. Among the widely documented problems are: That denial of a diploma based on a student’s test […]
FairTest to Honor Diane Ravitch with the Deborah W. Meier Hero in Education Award
Date and Time: Tuesday, 5 June, 6:00-830 p.m. Place: Julia Richman Educational Complex, 317 East 67th St., New York City Diane Ravitch is an internationally renowned and respected historian of education. Formerly a supporter of testing, test-based accountability, and school choice, she had the courage to publicly renounce her previous position after seeing the wreckage […]
NCLB?s Lost Decade Report
NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND 10TH ANNIVERSARY REPORT NCLB’s Lost Decade for Educational Progress:What Can We Learn from this Policy Failure? By Lisa Guisbond with Monty Neill and Bob SchaefferJanuary 2012 The federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law failed badly in terms of its own goals, leading to a decade of educational stagnation, according to […]
Thank You from FairTest
As the winter holidays near, all of us at FairTest extend our warmest thanks to everyone working for fair, open and educational sound testing at the local, state and national levels. We especially appreciate the generous year-end donations so many of you have made in response to Diane Ravitch’s special appeal on our behalf. There […]
A Message from Diane Ravitch
December 13, 2011 Greetings! Five years ago, I could not imagine that I would one day be writing an appeal on behalf of FairTest. But I have changed my views and now see the damage that test-based accountability and No Child Left Behind have done to our children, our teachers, and our schools. I wish […]
A slide show of basic facts about Duncan's AYP waiver plan and the Senate HELP bill reauthorizing ESEA
IS AYP Dead? A Webinar.The National Education Association and the Forum on Educational Accountability produced a webinar on November 29, 2011 for NEA members about waivers and the Senate HELP Committee reauthorization of ESEA. The webinar presented descriptive, factual information to the participants; it contains little analysis or comment. This version has a few additional […]
Summary and Critique of Key Provisions in Harkin-Enzi ESEA/NCLB Reauthorization Bill of October 2011
Summary and Critique of Key Provisions in Harkin-Enzi ESEA/NCLB Reauthorization Bill of October 2011 FairTest review, analysis – summary and critique notes, October 16, 2011 The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee (HELP) will meet on Weds. October 19 to begin debating and making changes to a bill to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary […]