Like the car accident that you can’t take your eyes off of, the incredible standardized test debacle that is playing itself out in Florida is a stunning lesson about how out of control the “education reformers” have become.
Their mantra there, as it is here in Connecticut, is that standardized testing is the only way to force teachers to teach and children to learn. Most importantly, they claim, the standardized tests are needed in order to evaluate which teachers to keep and which to remove.
As many now know, the Florida Department of Education recently released the test scores on their FCAT 2.0 standardized tests. The percentage of Florida students who scored “at goal” had dropped from 81 percent to 27 percent. Within twenty-four hours, Florida’s Board had met, reduced the number needed to reach goal and announced that,
