Monty Neill: Authentic Assessment as Part of a Testing Reform Campaign
Part two of a three post series.
The U.S. stands alone among economically developed nations in its excessive use of high-stakes standardized testing. While the U.S. mandates testing in grades 3-8 and once in high school, with some states or districts requiring more, other nations range from almost no testing (e.g., Finland and Wales) to testing in about three grades. In many nations, the focus is on essay questions, not multiple-choice, and multiple measures are common. Only the U.S. uses student test scores to judge schools and teachers. As a result, tests largely control curriculum and instruction, with harmful consequences and scant progress in general improvement or in closing inequitable learning outcomes.
Across the nation, a rebellion is brewing against testing overuse and misuse. But just saying "no" isn't enough. In fact, high-quality feedback from assessment is vital to teaching and learning. Students, teachers and parents need to know whether kids are making progress. Communities and taxpayers deserve to know if schools are