The Answer Sheet - School Survival Guide for parents (and everyone else).

Posted at 06:03 AM ET, 05/22/2013

Jeb Bush's 'Chiefs for Change' attack Weingarten for something she didn't say

By Valerie Strauss

JEb Bush's "Chiefs for Change" attack AFT President Randi Weingarten for something she didn't say -- and she slaps them back.

By Valerie Strauss | 06:03 AM ET, 05/22/2013 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Tags: Read the Dueling Letters, Testing Moratorium

Posted at 04:02 AM ET, 05/15/2013

Why we need a moratorium on the high stakes of testing

By Valerie Strauss

Randi Weingarten just called for a moratorium on the high stakes attached to new Common Core-aligned standardized tests. Here's why we should do it.

By Valerie Strauss | 04:02 AM ET, 05/15/2013 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Tags: Standardized Testing, The Evidence For It

Posted at 05:02 AM ET, 04/30/2013

'Who allowed these big boys to go and play in education? Now the moms have to clean it up'

By Valerie Strauss

What started with eight women from Austin and suburban Houston is now a movement that spread across Texas and is challenging the standardized testing regime in the Lone Star State.

By Valerie Strauss | 05:02 AM ET, 04/30/2013 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Tags: Pushback on Testing, Standardized Testing

Posted at 04:05 AM ET, 04/25/2013

Yet a new Pearson problem with testing

By Valerie Strauss

Here's an email from a doctor who ran into trouble with Pearson testing.

By Valerie Strauss | 04:05 AM ET, 04/25/2013 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Tags: A Complaint, Pearson, Standardized Testing

Posted at 04:01 AM ET, 04/24/2013

A brief history of Pearson's problems with testing

By Valerie Strauss

Over years, in different states and a U.S. territory.

By Valerie Strauss | 04:01 AM ET, 04/24/2013 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Tags: Standardized Testing Errors

Posted at 04:03 AM ET, 04/23/2013

Standardized test questions kids have to answer that don't even count

By Valerie Strauss

Parents and students may not know this, but all of the questions kids have to answer on standardized tests don't actually count. Here's why.

By Valerie Strauss | 04:03 AM ET, 04/23/2013 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Tags: Field Test Questions, Field Testing, Standardized Tests

Posted at 06:02 AM ET, 04/16/2013

Common Core testing begins in NY -- but are exams ready for prime time?

By Valerie Strauss

A testing expert explains why the new Common Core-aligned standardized tests that New York State students are starting to take are not really ready to be administered.

By Valerie Strauss | 06:02 AM ET, 04/16/2013 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Tags: No, Standardized Tests, Testing Expert Says

Posted at 09:20 AM ET, 04/15/2013

A tweet that says it all

By Valerie Strauss

The effect of the test-based school reform in 26 words and an ampersand.

By Valerie Strauss | 09:20 AM ET, 04/15/2013 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Tags: About Test Obsession, Standardized Testing, Test Anxiety

Posted at 04:02 AM ET, 04/02/2013

The new challenges of teaching

By Valerie Strauss

An education school dean writes: 'Our schools are no longer designed to produce educated citizens but rather places to produce test results.'

By Valerie Strauss | 04:02 AM ET, 04/02/2013 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Tags: Teaching and Learning, The Impact of Testing

Posted at 05:37 PM ET, 03/30/2013

Scathing excerpts from Atlanta indictment in test cheating scandal

By Valerie Strauss

Excerpts of the Atlanta test cheating indictment reveal stark details of alleged wrongdoing.

By Valerie Strauss | 05:37 PM ET, 03/30/2013 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Tags: 'Unreasonable Pressure', Atlanta Indictment, Testing Scandal

Posted at 01:54 PM ET, 03/21/2013

Louisiana wants to link student funding to test scores

By Valerie Strauss

Just when you think there are no other ways to pervert the use of high-stakes standardized test scores, school reformers show just how creative they are.

By Valerie Strauss | 01:54 PM ET, 03/21/2013 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Tags: Standardized Tests, The Testing Obsession Grows

Posted at 03:55 PM ET, 02/22/2013

Massachusetts professors protest high-stakes standardized tests

By Valerie Strauss

A coalition of more than 130 Massachusetts professors and researchers from at least 20 schools -- including Harvard -- signed a public statement opposing high-stakes standardized tests to assess students, teachers and schools.

By Valerie Strauss | 03:55 PM ET, 02/22/2013 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Tags: New Step in Revolt, Standardized Tests, Testing Revolt

Posted at 11:27 AM ET, 02/17/2013

Student 'zombies' protest standardized tests

By Valerie Strauss

The year-long revolt against high-stakes standardized testing is being increasingly fueled by students, including a "zombie" army in Providence.

By Valerie Strauss | 11:27 AM ET, 02/17/2013 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Tags: Anti-Testing Revolt Growing, Standardized Testing Revolt, Young People Step Up Revolt

Posted at 02:17 PM ET, 02/06/2013

Seattle teachers face sanctions for refusing to give standardized test

By Valerie Strauss

Seattle high school teachers who are refusing to give students a state standardized test that they say is fatally flawed now face sanctions, and students are taking the test this week by order of state officials who ordered administrators to administer it.

By Valerie Strauss | 02:17 PM ET, 02/06/2013 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Tags: Administrators Give Test to Students, Standardized Test, Testing Revolt

Posted at 12:16 PM ET, 01/25/2013

Newtown school district seeks standardized testing waiver

By Valerie Strauss

The Newtown, Conn., Board of Education voted to ask the federal government to exempt its public schools from taking some mandated standardized tests because of the trauma suffered by the community from the fatal shootings of 20 children and six teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary last month.

By Valerie Strauss | 12:16 PM ET, 01/25/2013 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Tags: Newtown Shootings, Standardized Testing, Trauma From Shootings Cited

Posted at 10:24 AM ET, 01/06/2013

Texas school districts seek testing waivers

By Valerie Strauss

There's something almost poetic about this: In the state where the high-stakes standardized testing era began under then-governor George W. Bush, a consortium of school districts is asking officials to grant them exemptions from state and federal testing requirements.

By Valerie Strauss | 10:24 AM ET, 01/06/2013 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Tags: Standardized Testing, State and Federal Sought

Posted at 04:09 PM ET, 11/30/2012

My kindergartener had 14 tests this year'

By Valerie Strauss

When one testing window closes, another one opens. We are in a constant state of testing," Madeline Kobayashi, a teacher at Philip Rogers Elementary School in Chicago, said at a townhall forum titled "The Culture of Testing" in Chicago Public Schools. Here's are video clips with some powerful testimony from teachers and parents

By Valerie Strauss | 04:09 PM ET, 11/30/2012 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Tags: Standardized Tests, The Culture of Testing

Posted at 02:45 PM ET, 01/28/2011

Do tests really help students learn -- or was a new study misreported? -- Kohn

By Valerie Strauss

A new study that received attention was said to have concluded that kids should "take a test to really learn." Except, as Alfie Kohn explains, the study doesn't support that conclusion.

By Valerie Strauss | 02:45 PM ET, 01/28/2011 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Alfie Kohn, Alfie Kohn, Alfie Kohn | Tags: alfie kohn, high-stakes testing, new york times, rote learning, standardized testing, student on testing, testing, testing study

Posted at 05:00 AM ET, 01/21/2011

Testing the Common Core Standards

By Valerie Strauss

A veteran of the standardized testing industry sets out to discover whether the Common Core Standards are "revolutionary" or whether they look a lot like standards states already have. Here's his report.

By Valerie Strauss | 05:00 AM ET, 01/21/2011 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers | Tags: academic benchmarks, common core standards, common standards, content standards, national standards, standardized testing, standardized testing industry, state standards, testing industry, todd farley, todd s. farley

Posted at 11:15 AM ET, 01/06/2011

NCLB's 9th anniversary: 'Will there be anything we will need to remember after the test?'

By Valerie Strauss

Nine years ago this week president Bush signed into law the No Child Left Behind Act. Take a look at what it wrought.

By Valerie Strauss | 11:15 AM ET, 01/06/2011 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers | Tags: congress and nclb, esea, esea reauthorization, national education association, nclb, nclb reauthorization, no child left behind, standardized testing, teachers unions

Posted at 02:00 PM ET, 01/03/2011

A response to Arne Duncan

By Valerie Strauss

Here's a response to a piece Education Secretary Arne Duncan wrote in The Washington Post today.

By Valerie Strauss | 02:00 PM ET, 01/03/2011 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Education Secretary Duncan, Education Secretary Duncan | Tags: arne duncan, bill gates, education secretary arne duncan, esea, nclb, no child left behind, school reform, testing industry

Posted at 03:16 PM ET, 11/20/2010

Testing scandal claims Atlanta schools superintendent

By Valerie Strauss

Atlanta schools Superintendent Beverly Hall bows for her to step down amid a major standardized testing scandal and says she won't return next year.

By Valerie Strauss | 03:16 PM ET, 11/20/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Standardized Tests | Tags: atlanta, atlanta superintendent, atlanta superintendentn resigns, atlanta tests, crct, criterion referenced competency tests, georgia scandal, georgia testing scandal, hall, hall resigns, standardized tests, testing scandal

Posted at 11:00 AM ET, 10/19/2010

Reduce standardized testing to improve accountability, school quality

By Valerie Strauss

FairTest's Monty Neill writes that reducing the amount of standardized testing, and lowering the stakes connected to the result will result in more accountability and school quality.

By Valerie Strauss | 11:00 AM ET, 10/19/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers | Tags: arne duncan, quality reviews, race to the top, school-based assessments, standardized tests, teacher assessment, teacher evaluation, testing

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 06/16/2010

The story behind rise in Texas test scores

By Valerie Strauss

Good news: Texas schoolchildren performed better on the 2010 Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills this year than they did last, according to preliminary results released this month. Bad news: It turns out that students could pass the test answering fewer questions correctly than in 2009.

By Valerie Strauss | 06:30 AM ET, 06/16/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Standardized Tests | Tags: TAKS, TAKS results, Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills, high-stakes testing and Texas, standardized test results, standardized tests

Posted at 03:15 PM ET, 06/07/2010

Standardized testing follies in Florida

By Valerie Strauss

A major testing company is having myriad problems scoring the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Tests, just one more reason that standardized tests should not be used for high-stakes decisions.

By Valerie Strauss | 03:15 PM ET, 06/07/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Standardized Tests | Tags: FCAT problems, florida comprehensive assessment tests, pearson and FCAT, pearson and testing, problems scoring FCAT, standardized testing, standardized tests and florida, the miami herald and testing

Posted at 12:00 PM ET, 05/27/2010

Postcards to Mrs. Obama: End high-stakes testing

By Valerie Strauss

Organizations opposed to high-stakes standardized tests are starting a postcard-writing campaign aimed at persuading First Lady Michelle Obama to "encourage" President Obama to end the use of high stakes tests. Lisa Guisbond of FairTest writes about the effort.

By Valerie Strauss | 12:00 PM ET, 05/27/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Standardized Tests, Standardized Tests, Standardized Tests, Standardized Tests, Standardized Tests, Standardized Tests | Tags: FairTest, fairtest, high-stakes standardized tests, michelle obama and tests, mrs. obama and standardized tests, no child left behind, obama and nclb, obama and race to the top, postcard campaign, postcard campaign to mrs. obama, postcards to first lady, postcards to michelle obama, postcards to mrs. obama, race to the top, standardized tests, standardized tests and results, the problem with race to the top, time out for testing

Posted at 03:14 PM ET, 05/12/2010

Should Breathalyzers be used at proms?

By Valerie Strauss

More and more high schools across the country are turning to Breathalyzers or similar devices to test kids to see if they have been drinking before they can enter the school prom. The real question is whether they stop young people from drinking.

By Valerie Strauss | 03:14 PM ET, 05/12/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: High School | Tags: alcohol and proms, breathalyzers at dances, breathalyzers at proms, high school proms, proms and alcohol, should kids be tested for alchol, testing kids for alcohol, testing students for alcohol

Posted at 07:00 AM ET, 03/28/2010

Less Testing, More Learning

By Valerie Strauss

By Lisa Guisbond and Monty Neill. President Obama's blueprint for rewriting No Child Left Behind shows a deeply disappointing failure to learn from NCLB's big mistakes. For instance, it still makes standardized testing the centerpiece of the law.

By Valerie Strauss | 07:00 AM ET, 03/28/2010 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers | Tags: FairTest, NCLB, standardized testing

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 10/23/2009

What teachers think about their jobs, testing

By Valerie Strauss

Federal officials take note: A new study shows that 40 percent of the country’s 4 million K-12 teachers are “disheartened” with their jobs and the vast majority think there is too much standardized testing and that it is a “drawback” to teaching.

By Valerie Strauss | 06:30 AM ET, 10/23/2009 | Permalink | Comments ( 0)
Categories: Standardized Tests, Standardized Tests | Tags: standardized testing, teachers

The Answer Sheet: testing