Examining the “Race to the Test” Guidelines (part I) � The Quick and the Ed

Examining the “Race to the Test” Guidelines (part I) � The Quick and the Ed

Examining the “Race to the Test” Guidelines (part I)

April 12th, 2010 | Category: Accountability, Uncategorized

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What’s to like and what’s to fear in the administration’s guidelines for the $350 million “Race to the Test” competition?

The Big Picture

There are really two competitions here: the $320 million fund for comprehensive assessment systems (current NCLB tests) and a $30 million fund for high school end-of-course tests. The administration projects two $160 million comprehensive assessment winners and one end-of-course testing winner–a total of three winners. State consortia are the only eligible applicants for these funds and consortia applying for comprehensive assessment system grants must have at least 15 states represented.

However, this “Race” may be more akin to your elementary school field day–

Credits as Currency

by Kevin Carey

One of the most interesting things going on in higher education is the Bologna Process, which is (to oversimplify a lot) an attempt to create a European common market for higher education. In the past, European countries have had very different ways of signifying post-secondary learning, both at the course level (credits) and credential level (degrees). This created a lot of friction and uncertainty in the labor market, making it harder for students to bring credits across national borders and for academics and employers to fairly judge the value of foreign degrees. Now Europe is moving to a standard 3+2 degrees cycle (3 years for a bachelors and 2 years for a Master’s, in American terms) and creating a great deal more transparency with respect to what, exactly, students who have earned credits from a given program or university have actually learned. That transparency, in turn, is the foundation for assuring that credits have value and mean what they say.
In part, the Bologna Process is a move to catch up with the United States. Just as there are no tariffs on inter-