Jessie Ramey, who writes the terrific blog Yinzercation, writes a cogent list of the 13 ways that high-stakes, standardized testing hurts children and ruins their education.

Here are six of the 13. Open the link to see the other seven:

So what are the “high-stakes” for students in high-stakes testing? Examples we’ve been hearing from parents and educators across Pennsylvania include:

Lost learning time: There’s less time for learning with testing and test prep (for example, Pittsburgh students now take 20-25, or more, high-stakes tests a year, with new tests this year in art and music).

Reduced content knowledge: Students are learning how to take high-stakes-tests, but cannot demonstrate subject mastery when tested in a different format. [Koretz, 2008]

Narrowed curriculum: With a focus on reading and math scores, students lose history, world languages, the arts, and other programs.

Shut out of programs: Stakes exclude students when test results count as extra weight in magnet lotteries or for entrance to gifted programs or advanced courses.

Diverted resources: Schools that perform poorly on high-stakes-tests are labeled “failures” and sometimes have resources taken away from them. The hundreds of millions of dollars spent on testing in Pennsylvania are not available for classroom education.

School closures: Schools labeled as “failing” on the basis of test scores can be threatened with closure. These schools are usually in communities of color.