Search Results for: node/virginia Schools

Harry Feder Executive Director Harry Feder is FairTest’s Executive Director as of August 2022.  He came to FairTest after a long career in public education in New York City, as a social studies teacher at The Beacon School from 2008-2022 and at the Urban Academy Laboratory High School from 2000-2008.  As a teacher Harry developed […]

Responding to grassroots pressure from parents, educators, and community leaders more state policymakers are agreeing to reduce the time students are required to spend taking superfluous standardized exams. But there’s still a long way to go to achieve meaningful assessment reform in most jurisditions. Keep the pressure on over the summer! AlabamaFeds Reject State Plan […]

Grade retention and diploma denials are among the worst politically motivated misuses of standardized tests. That’s why assessment reform activists have made repealing these counter-productive policies a top priority. Check out these FairTest fact sheets for ammunition to use in your local campaigns. Grade Retention: https://fairtest.org.org/arn/retenfct.htm Graduation Tests: https://www.fairtest.org/graduation-test-update-states-recently-eliminated Please help FairTest maintain the capacity […]

Status: Archived Subject: K-12 Testing The first major legal challenge to the current wave of state graduation tests went to trial in federal district court in San Antonio, Texas, early this fall. The Mexican-American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF) was attempting to prove that requiring students to pass the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills […]

Status: Archived Subject: K-12 Testing by Rich Gibson, Wayne State University A boycott against the Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) has affected entire school districts, especially wealthy districts where, until this year, students had nothing to lose or gain from bothering with the exam (see Examiner, Winter 1998-99). The boycott levels reached 90% in some […]

Throughout my teaching career in New York City public schools, I considered myself extraordinarily lucky.  As a social studies teacher at Urban Academy and The Beacon School, both members of the New York Performance Standards Consortium (NYPSC), I had the freedom most professional educators only dream of. Because our schools have a waiver from Regents […]

Status: Archived Subject: K-12 Testing Three recent publications illuminate the continuing debate over No Child Left Behind (NCLB). The Final Report of the National Conference of State Legislators (NCSL) Task Force is the product of a nearly year-long series of hearings and meetings on NCLB organized by the bi-partisan organization. Because many of the conditions […]

Forum on Educational Accountability Recommendations for Improving Federal Law – January 2015 The Forum on Educational Accountability (FEA) calls on Congress to make major changes to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA, currently “No Child Left Behind” or NCLB).[i] To strengthen public schools, improve learning, and enhance equity, FEA has drafted legislative language on […]

FairTest is part of a new Massachusetts coalition with a simple message: It’s time for Governor Charlie Baker and the state legislature to make it their number one priority to reinvest $1.5 billion a year in public education, from pre-K through college, with the funding increase not attached to any additional testing. Our public education […]

Status: Archived Subject: K-12 Testing Cheating reports continue to demonstrate the corrupting influence of high-stakes testing on administrators, teachers, and students. A large study of 68,000 college and high school students by Duke University’s Center for Academic Integrity found 70 percent admitted to having cheated, up from 56 percent in 1963. Among the latest examples […]