high stakes

FairTest and five other organizations have issued a paper, Federal Policy, ESEA and the School to Prison Pipeline. It looks at testing, school climate and 'zero tolerance' discipline policies as causes of the Pipeline, and makes recommendations on assessment, accountability, discipline and student re-entry to schools.

Documents from a February 2009 conference on standardized testing in the
Americas, with representatives from 13 countries and 31 organizations, including
FairTest, sponsored by the Research Network
of the Initiative for Democratic Education in the Americas
(IDEA). A pdf of all the reports in
English and additional materials

FairTest and Advancement Project co-sponsored a webinar on testing, discipline
and the school-to-prison pipeline.

Check out the powerpoint presentation from the webinar here.

Watch a film of the Webinar here.

(note: this fact sheet is available for download as a print-formatted PDF file)

States and districts should not bar students from graduating based solely on standardized test scores. The Standards on Educational and Psychological Testing of the American Psychological Association, American Educational Research Association and National Council on Measurement in Education states that a major decision about a student should not be made "on the basis of a single test score." Dozens of educational and civil rights organizations join FairTest in endorsing this basic principle and opposing high-stakes graduation exams.

FairTest's Monty Neill presented invited testimony on graduation tests and alternatives to the Maryland Board of Education. The letter also appears attached at the bottom as a formatted PDF:

October 21, 2008

James DeGraffenreidt, Chair
Members of the State Board of Education
200 West Baltimore Street
Baltimore, MD 21201

Copies sent by regular mail and e-mail

Dear Chairman DeGraffenreidt and Members of the Maryland Board of Education,

The Presidential Candidates on NCLB – Update, October 2008

With just two months until the presidential election, the Democratic and Republican parties have had their respective conventions and produced party platforms, which gives us an opportunity to see if the candidates are saying anything new about NCLB. The short answer is, nothing very specific. Independent candidate Ralph Nader, on the other hand, specifically calls for the law’s repeal. Libertarian Bob Barr and other candidates have also weighed in on the law since our last update in June.

See the story in the July 10 issue of The Nation: Exit Strategies: Confronting Faulty Grad Tests (Originally published by WireTap.) by Latricia Wilson.
(http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080721/latricia)

Latricia was profiled in an April 2008 FairTest Examiner story.

High Stakes Tests Do Not Improve Student Learning

A FairTest Report by Monty Neill, Acting Executive Director
January 1998

A common assumption of standards and tests-based school reform is that high-stakes testing, such as having to pass an exam for high school graduation, will produce improved learning outcomes. This view is found in the grading formula used in Quality Counts (1998), the recent Education Week report in which states receive points for having high-stakes tests.

For Immediate Release, June 23, 2008

Contact:

Lisa Guisbond 617-730-5445, 617-959-2371 (cell)
Jim Nehring 978-772-9749
David Krane 617-276-6241 (cell)
Ruth Rodriguez-Fay (508) 353-7888 (cell)
Trudy Knowles (413) 562-5337 (home) (413) 572-5724 (work)

Readiness Project Members Criticize Final Report on MCAS and Assessments; Say MCAS Overhaul is Urgently Needed to address Negative Consequences