Search Results for: node/Kentucky

Status: Archived Subject: K-12 Testing Control of schooling through testing — deliberately fostering a teach-to-the-test approach — is once again gaining ground in the US, particularly in schools serving low-income and minority-group children. Based on the drive to raise standards, policymakers and educators reduce schooling to test coaching, often lowering, not raising, standards and narrowing […]

Status: Archived Subject: K-12 Testing FairTest Examiner, November 2013 The arrival of Common Core standards-based tests, marketed as more “rigorous” and consistent than existing state exams, is yielding a new generation of testing nightmares, for students, teachers, parents and administrators. In states that have yet to begin Common Core testing, horror stories based on existing […]

for further information: Bob Schaeffer (239) 395-6773 cell (239) 699-0468 for immediate release, Thursday, April 14, 2016 COMPUTERIZED SCHOOL EXAM PROBLEMS IN TWO-THIRDS OF STATES — TEST ADMINISTRATION CRASHED IN AT LEAST 13 OVER PAST FOUR YEARS; WIDESPREAD TECHNICAL, SECURITY PROBLEMS ADD TO FAILURE OF POLITICALLY MANDATED TESTING Last week, Alaska canceled annual standardized testing […]

Status: Archived Subject: K-12 Testing Disregarding educators’ appeals for more flexibility in testing English language learners (ELLs) for No Child Left Behind (NCLB), the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) released final regulations in September requiring students to take standardized tests in English and have their scores count for NCLB after just 12 months of attending […]

Status: Archived Subject: K-12 Testing “The administration likes to talk about the soft bigotry of low expectations and how this law fights that. But what about the hard bigotry of high expectations without adequate resources?”– Paul Houston, executive director, American Association of School Administrators As the “No Child Left Behind” Act (NCLB) completes its first […]

Status: Archived Subject: University Testing Several national and state organizations are currently pushing for the use of high school graduation tests in college admissions decisions. While many of these initiatives are in the early stages, the groups behind them appear determined to implement “K-16” testing schemes despite widespread opposition from many educators and college administrators. […]

Statement of the Problem Missouri NEA recognizes the need for ongoing comprehensive evaluation of student progress. However, high stakes decisions involving tracking, grade promotion, admission to dual-credit courses and graduation based on a single testing event present major educational and motivational challenges. Additionally, tests do not always measure what they purport to measure. Position While […]

Status: Archived Subject: K-12 Testing Can classroom-based assessments provide information that could be used effectively for accountability? Statewide use of portfolios in Vermont (Examiner, Winter 1993-94) and Kentucky (Examiner, Spring 1993) is begin-ning to show that this might be possible. In both these states, the content of the portfolios is largely specified by the state. […]

Back-to-school season is the same time when last year’s state standardized exams scores are released. Does that make sense? Certainly not, if the purpose of assessment is to provide feedback that can help improve teaching and learning. That’s increasingly the reaction of education leaders and policy makers, as this week’s news clips demonstrate. You can […]

NOTE: for a PDF formatted version of this fact sheet click here) Independent researchers have found that evaluating and paying teachers for test scores is either damaging or irrelevant to improved learning.* Unfortunately, even evidence of harm does not seem to affect the growing popularity of such schemes. Policymakers, including U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, […]