Paul Thomas writes a scathing indictment of the U.S. Department of Education's blind faith in high-stakes standardized testing, -WITH LINKS TO VALUABLE studies about their uselessness. He attributes a large part of the damage to non-educators put in positions of authority. "And let’s not fail to acknowledge that such vapid bureaucratic nonsense is inevitably the result of know-nothings being appointed to positions of power (think never-taught Arne Duncan serving as Secretary of Education.)" Diane Ravitch says: "He might have included the U.S. Congress, most governors and legislatures, and a large number of think tanks and foundations; one of the primary malefactors of the testing obsession is the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Does anyone at the U.S. Department of Education read research? Or has it been turned into a cheering squad for whatever administration is in charge?"
At radicalscholarship.wordpress.com
