On Top of the News
A Fight Is Brewing Over Tests in the Common Core Age
2/13/14 | Washington Post
Behind the Headline
Examining High Stakes Testing
Winter 2014 | Education Next
Testing season begins soon, but many states are wary of giving tests that are not aligned with the new Common Core curriculum they’ve put into place. No Child Left Behind requires states to give annual tests and report the results, but new tests aligned with the Common Core are not yet ready. Arne Duncan insists that schools still give tests this year and report the results, but California has already announced that it will defy those requirements. Now Maryland lawmakers are considering a bill that would stop the state from administering old tests that are not aligned with the new standards.
Joshua Starr, superintendent of schools in Montgomery County, Maryland, makes the case for a three-year hiatus from high-stakes accountability testing while new standards and tests are implemented in “A Testing Moratorium is Necessary,” in the Winter 2014 issue of Ed Next. Margaret Spellings, secretary of education under George W. Bush, responds that the current testing regime is a critical source of information for educators as well as the public. Both articles are part of an Ed Next forum on high-stakes testing.
-Education Next
