Search Results for: node/cheating

Though classrooms have not even opened for the fall semester in many parts of the country, activists are already posting victories — often won with support from FairTest — that will overhaul school testing policies. Please help give FairTest the muscle to help more grassroots organizers, educators and other allies roll back testing overkill and […]

In addition to lots of other testing news, several states that contract with Questar, a for-profit subsidiary of the Educational Testing Service, recently experienced significant disruptions of their computerized standardized exams. In three — New York, Ohio and Tennessee — the entire assessment system crashed. The latest failures add to the evidence that corporate and […]

Status: Archived Subject: FairTest News By Deborah Meier Every year, major test publishers spend millions of dollars promoting their products. Myriads of smaller companies bombard our principal’s desks daily with tools guaranteed to improve test scores. Researchers and policymakers use test scores as the coin of the realm, determining what schools, communities, states and programs […]

for further information:Dr. Monty Neill (617) 477-9792Bob Schaeffer (239) 395-6773 for use with Secretary Arne Duncan Seaton Elementary Speech, Monday, January 12, 2015 REACTION TO SEC. DUNCAN’S CALL FOR “NO CHILD” REVAMP;ASSESSMENT REFORMERS SAY REPEAL OF FED’S ANNUAL EXAM RULEIS KEY TO REVERSING TYRANNY OF TESTING,RESTORING CLIMATE FOR MORE LEARNING GROWTH AND GAP CLOSING Responding […]

Even as the academic year winds down, the pace of stories about high-stakes testing flaws and support for assessment alternatives has not slowed one bit Video — Growing National Movement Against High-Stakes Public School Testing https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=gbdTheK9uqY NY Cracking Down on Pearson After Spate of Errors (but the company keeps the state’s lucrative testing contract) http://gothamschools.org/2012/06/15/state-cracking-down-on-testmaker-pearson-after-spate-of-issues/ […]

Testing Reform Allies: After reading this week’s installment of clips, remember to take advantage of the many excellent fact sheets, some recently updated, on all facets of assessment reform available for free at http://www.fairtest.org. They are designed to support your grassroots public education work, including writing letters to the editor about these articles, posting on […]

Status: Archived Subject: General Testing “New Organization Will Defend Rights of Test-Takers, Fight For Assessment Reform,” read the headlines ten years ago this fall, as leaders of major education reform, civil rights, and student groups announced the formation of the National Center for Fair & Open Testing. Launched with a news conference at the 1985 […]

School’s out for summer, to the relief of millions of test-weary students, teachers and parents. Our children are spending less time learning, more time prepping for, taking and worrying about standardized tests. Are you are concerned about the increasing influence of standardized testing on your children? Do feel your child is getting test prep while […]

The following excerpt is from the opening chapter of STANDARDIZED MINDS: THE HIGH PRICE OF AMERICA’S TESTING CULTURE AND WHAT WE CAN DO TO CHANGE IT by Peter Sacks. (Perseus Books, Cambridge, Mass., February 2000). Most Americans take standardized mental tests as a rite of passage from the day they enter kindergarten. Gatekeepers of America’s […]

Are standardized tests fair and helpful evaluation tools? Not really. On standardized exams, all test takers answer the same questions under the same conditions, usually in multiple-choice format. Such tests reward quick answers to superficial questions. They do not measure the ability to think deeply or creatively in any field. Their use encourages a narrowed […]