Chicago Research Criticizes Retention, Test-Driven ?Improvement?
Status: Archived Subject: K-12 Testing Chicago’s test-based grade retention program has been repeatedly criticized in reports by the Consortium on Chicago School Research and, often more pointedly, by advocacy groups such as Designs for Change (see Examiner, Fall 2000). Several new Consortium reports now reinforce the message that grade retention is an educational failure that […]
Just Say No to Standardized Tests: Why and How to Opt Out
The Biden Administration’s decision to require the administration of federally mandated standardized exams this year contradicts the judgement of parents, educators, and community leaders. At least 10 states had already prepared test waiver requests, both major teacher unions oppose the exams, and polls showed that a majority of parents wanted tests suspended. Claiming that assessment […]
Bush Testing Opponents Speak Out
Status: Archived Subject: K-12 Testing In a last-minute effort to stop a massive increase in federally mandated student testing, FairTest joined with Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA), the American Association of School Administrators (AASA), the National Association of Black School Educators (NABSE), and the Alliance for Childhood to hold a Washington, DC, news conference on April […]
Boston Parents Say No to the MCAS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, April 9, 2001 CONTACT: Eleanor LeCain (617) 983-3436 or Peggy Wiesenberg (617) 624-5220 (day); (617) 524-5405 (evening) Most students at Mission Hill School in Roxbury will not be taking MCAS tests this week. Parents of 17 of 22 third grade students have asked the school not to administer to their children […]
Article discusses CARE Authentic Accountability plan
Article discusses CARE Authentic Accountability plan The excerpts below discuss the Massachusetts Coalition for Authentic Reform in Education (CARE) Call for an Authentic Statewide Assessment System. Excerpted with permission from: “Let’s Treat the Cause, Not the Symptoms: Equity And Accountability in Texas Revisited,” by Richard R. Valencia, Angela Valenzuela, Kris Sloan, and Douglas E. Foley […]
Testing Resistance & Reform News: April 3 – 9, 2019
As annual school tests get underway in more states, the pace of assessment reform action — from opting out to pressing for legislation to roll back testing overkill — continues to escalate. Add in the fallout from the “Varsity Blues” college admissions scandal plus renewed interest in overhauling teacher licensing exam requirements and it’s not […]
ACT/SAT Optional Colleges List Soars to 280
Status: Archived Subject: University Testing (Read about Muhlenberg’s experience below…) At least 280 four-year college and university campuses now have policies which do not use ACT or SAT results to make admissions decisions for many applicants, according to a new FairTest survey. That figure represents an increase of nearly four dozen test score optional schools […]
A Better Way to Assess Students and Evaluate Schools
A Better Way to Assess Students and Evaluate Schools By Monty Neill Published in Education Week Online: June 18, 2010 Attachment Size better-way-to-assess-EdWeek6-18-10.pdf 118.61 KB
"Beyond NCLB" by Monty Neill Available at Rethinking Schools
“Beyond NCLB” by FairTest’s Monty Neill is available in Rethinking Schools at http://www.rethinkingschools.org/archive/22_03/beyo223.shtml.
How Standardized Testing Damages Education (Updated July 2012)
HOW STANDARDIZED TESTING DAMAGES EDUCATION How do schools use standardized tests? The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) era has seen an unprecedented expansion of standardized testing and test misuse. Despite ample evidence of the flaws, biases and inaccuracies of standardized exams, NCLB and related state and federal policies, such as Race to the Top (RTTT) […]