Want to end the obsession with standardized testing? Opt your children out of the state tests. Ignore the threats from state and federal officials. The tests today have taken over too much of the school year. The elected officials who mandate these tests would take notice and discover that no high-performing nation in the world tests every child every year.The tests are meaningless because the results are returned months after the test, when the student has a different teacher. Officials claim that the tests help students and teachers and inform instruction. Balderdash. The tests rank and rate students. Worse, the developers of the Common Core tests selected a passing mark so high that the majority of children are expected to fail. The passing mark is a subjective judgment. What exactly is the value of telling children they are failures when they are in third grade?
At dianeravitch.net
