Testing Resistance & Reform News: July 11 – 17, 2018

Yet another state — Indiana — dropped its graduation testing requirement this week. A decade ago, nearly two dozen jurisdictions required students to pass a high school exit exam. Now the number is just twelve. In addition, several states — — have retroactively awarded diplomas to young adults who completed their coursework but failed a now cancelled testing hurdle. The strong position against high-stakes exams adopted by the NAACP should add more muscle to campaigns to eliminate these barriers.

National NAACP Opposes High-Stakes Testing
https://cloakinginequity.com/2018/07/17/%E2%80%AAbreaking-news-naacp-now…
National Educators Advocate and Organize for Wins
http://neatoday.org/2018/07/09/educator-organizing-victories/
National FairTest Report Documents Testing Reform Victories Why and How
http://www.fairtest.org/fairtest-report-test-reform-victories-surge-in-2017

Alabama Biggest Obstacles to Academic Achievement Are Out of School
https://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/education/2018/07/13/pov…

Indiana Passing 10th Grade Test No Longer Required for High School Graduation
http://www.pharostribune.com/indiana/news/article_a6b001c8-1f45-5e8d-827…

Massachusetts Testing Requirements Undermine Education of English Language Learners
https://lesstestingmorelearning.tumblr.com/post/175854677204/story-21-te…

Michigan Threats of Punishment for Low Test Scores Won’t Fix Decades of School Disinvestment
https://www.freep.com/story/opinion/columnists/nancy-kaffer/2018/07/12/s…

Mississippi Flawed Accounting of Public Schools
https://www.northsidesun.com/opinion-columns/flawed-accounting-our-publi…

New Jersey State Begins Move Away From PARCC Testing
https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/education/2018/07/10/nj-moving-aw…

New York Regents Consider Continued Concerns About Testing Policies
https://www.chalkbeat.org/posts/ny/2018/07/16/regents-use-annual-retreat…

Ohio State School Board Rejects Proposal to Raise Grade Promotion Test Cut-off Score
https://www.whio.com/news/state-considers-tough-third-grade-reading-stan…
Ohio Higher Exit Exam Score Rules Would Have Blocked Diplomas for Third to Half of Urban Students
https://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2018/07/tougher_new_graduation…

Oregon State Keeps Smarter Balanced Tests But with Alternatives for Graduation
https://tdn.com/news/state-and-regional/meet-oregon-s-new-high-school-gr…

Utah Educators Protest Feds Discussion on Counting Opt Outs in “Proficiency” Calculations
https://www.ksl.com/article/46361920/utah-students-opting-out-of-tests-c…

University Admissions Another New England School Adopts Test-Optional Policy
https://www.journaltribune.com/articles/front-page/university-of-new-eng…
University Admissions Here’s Why Colleges Are Dropping ACT and SAT “Writing” Exams
http://dailycaller.com/2018/07/15/colleges-dropping-sat-essays/

Worth Reading Whatever Happened to Common Core
https://www.forbes.com/sites/petergreene/2018/07/12/what-ever-happened-t…
Worth Reading Tougher Standards Don’t Automatically Improve Academic Performance
https://www.districtadministration.com/article/higher-standards-don-t-ne…

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