Beyond Standardized Tests: Existing Tools For Measuring Student Progress
NPR/LA Johnson
By Anya Kamenetz, NPR
Close your eyes for a minute and daydream about a world without bubble tests.
Education Week recently reported that some Republican Senate aides are doing more than dreaming — they’re drafting a bill that would eliminate the federal mandate on standardized testing.
Annual tests for every child in reading and math in grades 3 through 8, plus one in high school, have been a centerpiece of federal education law since 2002. No Child Left Behind, the current incarnation of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, requires them.
But this law has been overdue for reauthorization since before President Obama took office. The Senate plans to take the matter up early this year.
