Cartoons on Testing*
Amid the hyper-inflated rhetoric of “reformers” (a.k.a “no excuses” reformers) vs. “anti-reformers” (a.k.a. “defenders of the status quo”) I have been struck by the many political cartoons that have appeared around testing, especially since the passage of No Child Left Behind in 2002. Surely, these labels are misnomers since whichever side a reformer is on, what separates one from the other is the direction and means for achieving reform. Like Toys R Us, it is Reformers R Us. School reform is the Great American Cottage Industry.
Having made the obvious point that reformers of all stripes seek to improve schools but pursue different goals and strategies, what I have noticed is that most cartoons I have seen oppose standardized testing and in drawings and captions lay out negative consequences flowing from the type of tests, too many of them, and the anxieties surrounding them. In short, opponents of market-driven, “no excuses” reformers have a wealth of
