Educational CyberPlayGround ®

SAT Assessment and Test Preparation Resources for the Administrator

"On two occasions, I have been asked [by members of Parliament], 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question." ~ Charles Babbage

2015 Pisa tests 2012 top 10
Andreas Schleicher, the OECD's director of education and the creator of the Pisa tests. The difference from a system such as England, says Mr Oates, is how the information is used - for example in Finland exam results are not published in school league tables as they are in England.

2015 Validity of the SAT® for Predicting First-Year College Grade Point Average
Prior research has found that the SAT underpredicts females' college performance and overpredicts minority students' college performance. The results show that the changes made to the SAT did not substantially change how predictive the test is of first-year college performance. Across all institutions, the recently added writing section is the most highly predictive of the three individual SAT sections. As expected, the best combination of predictors of FYGPA is HSGPA and SAT scores

( 2010 ) 100 MILLION DOLLAR TRAIN WRECK

Only 43% of 2012 year's college-bound seniors met the SAT College and Career Readiness Benchmark, which indicates a 65% likelihood of achieving a “B-” average or higher during the first year of college. MORE http://press.collegeboard.org/.

2010 Research that Pays - Reading for Understanding - Awards

Department of Education in the College University needs to die. University professors don't say anything about the U. S. Department of Education. Because THE Politically Connected get the Public's money. These prostitutes are paid off with $100 million dollars and want to keep it that way.

WHILE THEY FIRE TEACHERS THE FEDS HAND OVER 100 MILLION TAX DOLLARS TO PRIVATE BU$INE$$.


#1 IES - Institute of Education Sciences
is the U.S. Government!

Institute of Education Sciences 555 New Jersey Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20208

2010 Hands out $100 million of our tax dollars!!! for more lousy reading instruction crap pdf to the biggest testing and assessment business' on the planet including the Educational Testing Service ETS.

While Elizabeth Albro hands over 100 Million Dollars of our money to the rest of these idiots

Read and Comprehend this!


Apple has 25,000 employees in the US, Foxconn has 250,000 in southern China alone. "The company," he points out, "has grown at an astounding rate, first in Taiwan and later in China. Its revenue last year was $62bn, larger than Apple Inc, Microsoft Corp, Dell Inc or Intel. Foxconn employs more than 800,000 people, more than the combined worldwide head count of Apple, Dell, Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard Co, Intel and Sony Corp." JOBS - Mass production where companies scale up, they work out design details, figure out how to make things affordably, build factories and hire people by the thousands that will make a difference in the American Economy.

Program Manager: Dr. Elizabeth Albro Institute of Education Sciences
U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Avenue, SW
Capital Place, Room 621
Washington, DC 20202
Telephone: (202) 219-2148 or Program Manager Elizabeth.Albro@ed.gov
Dr. Karen Douglas (202) 208-3896 Karen.Douglas@ed.gov



Liars, this isn't professional development money at all it's their gravy train.



Title: Assessing Reading for Understanding: A Theory-based, Developmental Approach
Name of Institution: Education Testing Service
Principal Investigator: Sabatini, John
Award Amount: $14,824,22

Title: Catalyzing Comprehension Through Discussion and Debate
Name of Institution: Strategic Education Research Partnership Institute
Principal Investigator: Donovan, Mary Suzanne
Award Amount: $19,352,384
Award Period: Five years

Title: Examining Effective Intervention Targets, Longitudinal Intensity, and Scaling Factors for Pre-K to 5th Grade Student Comprehension
Name of Institution: Florida State University
Principal Investigator: Lonigan, Christopher
Award Amount: $20,000,000
Award Period: Five years

Title: Reading for Understanding Across Grades 6 through 12: Evidence-Based Argumentation for Disciplinary Learning
Name of Institution: Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois
Principal Investigator: Goldman, Susan
Award Amount: $19,256,585
Award Period: Five years

Title: The Language Bases of Reading Comprehension
Name of Institution: Ohio State University
Principal Investigator: Justice, Laura
Award Amount: $19,999,999
Award Period: Five years

Title: Understanding Malleable Cognitive Processes and Integrated Comprehension Interventions for Grades 7--12
Name of Institution: University of Texas at Austin
Principal Investigator: Vaughn, Sharon
Award Amount: $20,000,000
Award Period: Five years


The Texas initiative Vaughn, Sharon Reading First Crooks and Liars
READING FIRST FEDERAL READING PROGRAM IGNORED LAW & ETHICAL STANDARDS



FOLLOW THE MONEY

The Texas initiative
became a model for Mr. Bush's federal reading program once he became president. The design team for Voyager included researchers Sharon Vaughn, Edward J. Kame'enui, Roland H. Good III, and Joseph Torgesen. Those respected scholars in reading and special education went on to become pivotal consultants to the, Reading First program referred to Justice a connection that some critics said might give Voyager an unfair advantage in gaining entree to Reading First schools. ~ Voyager Sails Into Market for Reading: But Questions Abound Over Secrets of Success Kathleen Kennedy Manzo Education Week 2006-10-25
During these early days of the program [Reading First], various department personnel met with representatives of the major publishing companies-- and some of the smaller ones-- to urge them to beef up their programs and to reflect a greater emphasis on SBRR. It was a clear echo of Carnine's earlier work with NCITE. By all accounts, the meetings were informal and well-received.
One of those meetings was a lunch in Washington involving the department and representatives of Scott Foresman of Livonia, Mich., publishers of a major basal textbook. Accompanying Scott Foresman officials was Sandy Kress, a close presidential adviser and one of the architects of No Child Left Behind, who had become a lobbyist for Pearson, Inc., Scott Foresman's parent company. The meeting was unremarkable save for the appearance of two faces then-relatively unknown in the nation's capital: Ed Kameenui and Deborah Simmons, professors and longtime colleagues of Carnine at the University of Oregon. Along with Sharon Vaughn, a reading researcher at the University of Texas, the pair had just signed with Scott Foresman to produce a new basal, scheduled for release in 2007.
When Research Goes to Market, Is It a Good Thing for Education? Andrew Brownstein and Travis Hicks, Thompson Title 1 Monitor, August 2005
Vaughn was the other member of the Voyager Passport design team, and one of the four chairmen of the secretary's Reading Leadership Academy, which exerted enormous influence over Reading First; the others were Moats, Kame'enui and his Oregon colleague Douglas Carnine. States such as Alabama, North Carolina and Washington specified in their Reading First grants that every one of their reviewers for local proposals would have to be approved by one of those chairmen. ~ The Education Issue Michael Grunwald Washington Post 2006-10-01

EVALUATION & EVALUATING THE EVALUATORS

OH YES - THERE IS BIG MONEY IN EVALUATION

Education Disinformation Detection and Reporting Agency
EDDRA is dedicated to analyzing reports, dispelling rumors, rebutting lies about public education in the United States. It represents an on-line version of the work I have been doing since 1991. -- Gerald Bracey

Data Quality Campaign finds that states have made "unprecedented progress" in building the technology needed to collect statewide data on students' academic progress from year to year, but it will take a political push to ensure all states have fully operational student-data systems by September. The report says nearly half the states now have systems that meet what the campaign deems the 10 critical elements for collecting longitudinal data on individual students and teachers from kindergarten through college and career. All states and the District of Columbia have put into place four of the 10 elements: a unique student-identification code that links information from various agencies through the years; student-level data on enrollment, demographics, and participation in specific programs; the ability to match student test data from one year to the next to calculate growth in achievement; and the ability to track individual students who graduate or drop out of school each year. In addition, nearly all states now have auditing systems to determine the accuracy and validity of the data and information on the number of students not included in state assessments. With most of the technology infrastructure in place, the report says, states must now grapple with more politically delicate issues, such as tying student test scores to individual teachers and their preservice-preparation programs, and ensuring educators and policymakers understand how to appropriately use the data collected.

LA Times Filch is a Liar and Manipulate the Teacher Evaluation Story

Derek Briggs replies:

I don't see how one can claim as a lead that our study "confirmed the broad conclusions"-- the only thing we confirmed is that when you use a value-added model to estimate teacher effects, there is significant variability in these effects. That's the one point of agreement. But where we raised major concerns was with both the validity ("accuracy") and reliability ("precision"), and our bigger focus was on the former rather than the latter. The research underlying the Times' reporting was not sufficiently accurate to allow for the ratings.

US Depts of Education: State Comprehensive Testing, Accountability & Assessment Drives us into the ground.

Alabama Department of Education Student Achievement Alaska Assessment & Student Information
Arizona Department of Education Assessment Arkansas Comprehensive Testing, Accountability & Assessment Program (ACTAAP)
California Standardized Testing & Reporting (STAR) Colorado Department of Education Standards & Assessment
Connecticut Department of Education Student Assessment Delaware Student Testing Program (DSTP)
Florida Department of Education Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) Georgia Department of Education Office of Standards, Instruction & Assessment
Hawaii Department of Education ARCH: Assessment Resource Center Idaho Department of Education Counseling & Assessment
Illinois Department of Education State Assessment Indiana State Department of Education Division of School Assessment
Iowa Department of Education Assessments & Accountability Kansas Department of Education Assessments
Kentucky Department of Education Testing & Reporting Louisiana Department of Education Standards, Assessments, & Accountability
Maine Department of Educational Assessment Maryland Department of Education Testing
Massachusetts State Department of Education Assessment & Accountability Michigan Department of Education Office of Educational Assessment & Accountability
Minnesota Department of Education Assessment & Testing Mississippi Department of Education Student Assessment
Missouri Department of Elementary & Secondary Education Assessment Program Montana Office of Public Instruction Measurement & Accountability
Nebraska Dept of Ed School-based Teacher-led Assessment & Reporting System Nevada Department of Education Assessment
New Hampshire Department of Education Assessment New Jersey Department of Education Assessment & Evaluation
New Mexico Public Education Department School & Student Assessment New York State Department of Education Office of State Assessment
North Carolina Department of Public Instruction Testing North Dakota Department of Education Testing & Assessment
Ohio State Department of Education Testing & Assessments Oklahoma State Department of Education Office of Accountability & Assessments
Oregon Department of Education Assessment & Testing Pennsylvania Department of Education Assessment & Accountability
Rhode Island Department of Elementary & Secondary Education Assessment & Accountability South Carolina Department of Education Testing & Assessment
South Dakota Department of Education Assessment & Testing Tennessee Department of Education Assessment, Evaluation & Research Division
Texas Department of Education Division of Student Assessment Utah State Office of Education Assessment
Vermont Department of Education Assessment Virginia Department of Education Assessment & Reporting
Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction Assessment West Virginia Department of Education School Data
Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Office of Educational Accountability Wyoming Proficiency Assessments for Wyoming Students (PAWS)

 

A new report from the Data Quality Campaign finds that states have made "unprecedented progress" in building the technology needed to collect statewide data on students' academic progress from year to year, but it will take a political push to ensure all states have fully operational student-data systems by September, according to Education Week. The report says nearly half the states now have systems that meet what the campaign deems the 10 critical elements for collecting longitudinal data on individual students and teachers from kindergarten through college and career. All states and the District of Columbia have put into place four of the 10 elements: a unique student-identification code that links information from various agencies through the years; student-level data on enrollment, demographics, and participation in specific programs; the ability to match student test data from one year to the next to calculate growth in achievement; and the ability to track individual students who graduate or drop out of school each year. In addition, nearly all states now have auditing systems to determine the accuracy and validity of the data and information on the number of students not included in state assessments. With most of the technology infrastructure in place, the report says, states must now grapple with more politically delicate issues, such as tying student test scores to individual teachers and their preservice-preparation programs, and ensuring educators and policymakers understand how to appropriately use the data collected.
See the report: http://www.dataqualitycampaign.org/

Testing is Big Business - You Can Buy TESTS.

Mental Measurements Yearbook -
Provides full-text information about, and reviews of, all English-language standardized tests covering educational skills, personality, vocational aptitude, psychology, and related areas as included in the printed Mental Measurements Yearbooks. Produced by the Buros Institute.
There is some information from the ERIC Clearinghouse on Assessment and Evaluation, and the Buros Institute look at their Instructional Resources
To purchase the actual test materials, you will need to contact the test publisher(s).

Education Dept. Plans To Break Up Evaluation Office 4/02

American Evaluation Association
We value high quality, ethically defensible, culturally responsive evaluation practices that lead to effective and humane organizations and ultimately to the enhancement of the public good.
High stakes testing leads to under-serving or mis-serving all students, especially the most needy and vulnerable, thereby violating the principle of “do no harm.” The AEA opposes the use of tests as the sole or primary criterion for making decisions with serious negative consequences for students, educators, and schools. The AEA supports systems of assessment and accountability that help education. Find an Evaluator

Planning and Evaluation Service U.S. Dept. of Education
Word of caution for anyone organizing for political reform. By the time organization is accomplished, robots will put vast numbers of people out of work and the political issues will be vastly different. Ditto for education, too: the leaders and shakers of the world grew up during the Eisenhower years and are bent on perfecting an Eisenhower-model education system. What kids need is to fit into the world of the future, not the world of the past. And with work a thing of the past, will ethnic identity matters consume a huge amount of the political landscape? It is already starting to happen. - anonymous

History Of American Education Web Project

Links of interest to evaluators

Evaluating States to States In Areas Other Than Education
Statistical Abstracts of the United States - U.S. Census

Evaluating State & Districts School
National Center for Education Statistics

THE WHOLE CHILD IN A FRACTURED WORLD
Commissioned by the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), a new paper by Harold "Bud" Hodgkinson is designed to assist in recasting the definition of a successful learner from one whose achievement is measured solely by academic tests, to one who is knowledgeable, emotionally and physically healthy, civically engaged, prepared for economic self-sufficiency, and ready for the world beyond formal schooling. The report documents the "splendid isolation of the U.S. educational system" providing an overview of the complexity, the challenges, and the flaws in measuring efficacy. For example, the U.S. Department of Education contributes only 10 percent of total education spending, but it issues 90 percent of the regulations that schools must follow. Hodgkinson proposes five themes for consideration:
(1) Equity. Who gets access and who doesn't?
(2) Coordination. Should there be one national standard for student proficiencies, set by the federal government, or a standard for each state? Who decides?
(3) Knowledge Integration. How can we develop a common vocabulary for education discourse?
(4) Sequence. In regards to learning and teaching, what should happen to people at what moment in their lives? (5) Wholeness. Could schools collaborate with health, school, and community organizations in maximizing potential using a whole child approach? "If decisions about education policy and practice started with 'What works for the child?' how would resources -- time, space, and human -- be arrayed to ensure each child's success?" said Gene Carter. "If the student were truly at the center of the system, would could we achieve?"
http://www.ascd.org/ASCD/pdf/fracturedworld.pdf

Evaluating Education Performance State to State

  1. National Center for Education Statistics
  2. Full Version of the Digest below
    Digest of Education Statistics Tables and Figures
    List of 2003 Charts & Figures


ASSESSMENT
Quality
Integrity
Accreditation

The School Information Partnership
is a public-private collaboration designed to empower parents, educators and policymakers to use the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) data to make informed decisions and improve school results. Standard & Poor's created the website which includes a suite of interactive analytical tools from Standard & Poor's School Evaluation Services and the National Center for Educational Accountability's Just for the Kids. For schools, districts and states across the nation, the website will display available data required to be publicly reported under NCLB. This initiative is funded by The Broad Foundation and U.S. Department of Education.

The National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI)
was established under the Higher Education Amendments of 1992 (Public Law 102-325). Section 114 of the Higher Education Act, as amended (HEA), provides for a Committee composed of 15 members appointed by the Secretary of Education. The law specifies that members should be representatives of, or knowledgeable concerning, education and training beyond secondary education, including representatives of all sectors and type of institutions of higher education, as well as a student representative.

Regional Accreditors The Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.

National Accreditors The Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges of Technology.

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION ORGANIZATIONAL DIRECTORY MARCH 2002 Office of Management Executive Office.

READ the The General Accounting Office report that activities are under way to improve teacher training, but reporting on these activities could be enhanced. [PDF 1.47KB]

Why Most Published Research Findings Are False ~John P. A. Loannidis
It can be proven that most claimed research findings are false. As has been shown previously, the probability that a research finding is indeed true depends on the prior probability of it being true (before doing the study), the statistical power of the study, and the level of statistical significance.

How To Prepare
My Child
for State Exams

Most State Education Pages are providing the public with either sample tests or released questions from previous exams.

  • State Testing Page
    Find out which states are providing the public with online sample tests and released questions from previous exams.
  • Full Math Test Releases
    As more states release full past exams instead of sample sheets we will post them.
  • TIMSS Math and Science Page
    In addition to practicing State Exams we also suggest sampling Tests provided by the Third International Math and Science Study. This is the famous series of international exams where the US scored 13th in the world.
  • State Math Page
    This page is designed to provide parents to easy access to state mathematics exams as they become available to the public.
  • State English/Reading Page
    This page is designed to provide parents to easy access to state English exams as they become available to the public.


THE NATION'S REPORT CARD

Programme for International Student Assessment, or PISA, given every three years to 15-year-olds around the world, have helped drive changes in educational guidelines. The goal of PISA is to represent outcomes of learning rather than outcomes of schooling. By placing the emphasis on age, PISA intends to show not only what 15-year-olds have learned in school, but outside of school as well as over the years, not just in a particular grade. PISA thus seeks to show the overall yield of an educational system and the cumulative effects of all learning experience. Focusing on age 15 provides an opportunity to measure broad learning outcomes while all students are still required to be in school across the many participating nations. Finally, because years of education vary among countries, choosing an age-based sample makes comparisons across countries somewhat easier.

School Results.org, will serve as a clearinghouse for new state report cards on education, parents and policy-makers can make comparisons across districts and track student progress.

Search for Public Schools (National Center for Education Statistics). Search by Zip Code to identify community schools, then view the data available on each school and its students.

American Factfinder (Census Bureau).
Population and housing data from Census 2000 searchable by zip code. Educational attainment and language spoken at home data is in Summary File 3 (SF3).

Sources covering California only
Rand California
Academic Performance Index.
Enrollment Statistics.
Enrollment by Ethnicity Statistics.
Limited English Proficiency Statistics.
Public High School Performance Statistics.
School District Financial and Demographic Statistics.
Schools Computer and Internet Access Statistics.
Detailed Student Transition from Limited English to Fluent English Statistics.
Teacher Demographic Statistics.

Help Kids on Standardized Tests Standards and Assessment How Do Students Compare? Report Card
Info
Preschool Assessment High School Assessment Special Ed Assessment


How to Help Your KidsDo Well on Standardized Tests

Accreditation Through Technical Evaluation of Standardized Tests Tips for parents: how to help children with tests and what to ask teachers about their child's performance.
eduTest Online educational assessment and drills - you must register to access diagnostic tools for teachers, parents, and student - but there is no cost.

General Standards and Assessment

Examples of excellent standards and information on assessment from the state and federal governments.

CRESST Home Page
Another rich resource on standards and assessment at the national level. This site is funded by the national government.
Mecrel Standards Site
This site not only lists model standards in most curriculum areas, but provides a wealth of direct connections to teacher-friendly sites to support every standard.

Test Reviews

International Data And Comparison
Unicef's findings from a 1995 survey of primary schools in 14 of the world's poorest countries.
The Condition of Education 1997
This is an excellent summary of statistics derived from a variety of reports published at the national

How Do Our Students Compare?

Assessment results used in comparing students in the United States. Includes links to NAEP results, TIMSS results, and the IEA Reading Literacy Study Report.

National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)
State-by-state testing results in Geography, Math, Reading, Science, U.S. History, and Writing. See how California's scores compare. Includes sample questions!
Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS)
How do math and science abilities of students in the United States compare to abilities of students in the rest of the world? Investigate the reports to find out. Also includes testing information and e-mail access to steering committee members.
Reading Literacy in the U.S 1996
Findings from the IEA Reading Literacy Study. Compares reading abilities of students in the U.S. to students in other countries.
Research on reading in the US 2000
Raising Inner - City Reading Levels
What Every Educator Needs to Know
STAR Official Web Site
California Official Standardized Testing and Reporting Program web site provided by Harcourt Educational Measurement
STAR Test Results
Now Accessible! This page also has links to the publisher and the state department.
STAR - Ranking of California Schools
Ranking of California schools based on 1999 STAR Test results, courtesy of Associated Press.
 

Report Card Information

A result of the new emphasis on tying report cards to standards. Features sample report cards!

 

Evaluating: Grading and Scoring
short articles regarding letter grades, alternative report cards, weighted grades, and more.
Federal Way School's Teacher Learning Center
Example of standards-based report cards for kindergarten through high school.



Preschool Assessment

A Developmental Approach to the Assessment of Young Children
By Lilian G. Katz. The purposes of assessment, risks of preschool assessment, and involvement of children in the assessment process. Also contains links to other articles!
Preschool Assessment
Sites relating to the controversial issue of preschool assessment.

High School Assessment

S.A.T. Information
On-line S.A.T. registration, practice questions, and insights from the test makers themselves.
Advanced Placement Exams
Access to information for parents, students, and teachers on AP exams, including benefits of AP courses, information about testing conditions, and sample exams.
G.E.D. Information
All about the content and scoring of the General Education Development exams. Includes local contacts.
High School Assessment Sites
Information for parents, students and educators about Golden State Exams, Advanced Placement Tests, S.A.T.s,
A.C.T.s and G.E.D.s.



Special Education Assessment

Brigance Comprehensive Inventory of Basic Skills -- Revised
This site contains an overview of the test, sample pages, price quotes, and a link to local representatives.

This inventory tool is aligned with Reading First a known Scam

Special Education Assessments
Favorite assessments used in special education classes. Find out about the Brigance Comprehensive Inventory of Basic Skills, the Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery, the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, and the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children.

TEACHER, CAN YOU SPARE A DIME?
According to a study provided to TIME by the research firm Quality Education Data, a division of Scholastic, U.S. elementary school teachers spend more than $1billion a year of their own money on supplies for their classrooms. The average teacher's personal contribution is a surprising $521 annually, 35% more than what the school provides them with to buy such things as paperbacks, software, instructional posters and art supplies. Teachers, with an average salary of $42,000, say what they need most is materials for at-risk students, like books for a fifth-grader who reads at a first-grade level or posters for students who aren't proficient in English. Those who spend the most, first-year teachers ($701 a year), are also the lowest paid. - From PEN.

Teacher Salaries Facts and Articles

Teaching to the Test - K-12 Standards

HOW DO YOU TEST AND ASSESS SOMEONE'S CHARACTER

DROP OUT / PUSHED OUT


How long do children have the right to stay in school?
  • RETENTION & Social Promotion - Who will benefit?
  • Drop out Pushed out scandal.
  • What horrible things are going on in your state?
  • CHEATING AND FALSE REPORTING BY THE DEPT. OF EDUCATION

TESTING Objections Over State Testing Are Widespread

May 2007
Department of Education violates the Constitution to silence those who disagree with its agenda of high-stakes testing. Kohn, author of "The Case Against Standardized Testing: Raising the Scores, Ruining the Schools," published by Heinemann in 2000, said in a written statement that there is an urgent need for discussion on the downsides of testing at a time when the federal No Child Left Behind law is up for reauthorization.
Department of Education Convicted. Superior Court Judge Hiller B. Zobel ruled the DOE violated Kohn's civil rights and ordered the state Department of Education to pay more than $155,000 in legal fees for violating the civil rights of Alfie Kohn noted standardized testing critic by preventing him from speaking at a conference. The state official's e-mail said "it was stupid" to use the state funds to support a speaker who is "diametrically opposed" to the state's agenda, according to court documents.
In addition to awarding the fees in his final judgment, the judge also issued an injunction prohibiting the Department of Education from denying grant money for any conference unless the speech topic is clearly unrelated to the conference's subject.``The judge is now going to craft an injunction which specifies exactly what the Department of Education must do or can't do in the future, as a result of having been liable for trying to silence dissent." It follows the court's ruling last August that the department violated the First Amendment when it threatened to withdraw funding for the conference if Belmont author Alfie Kohn delivered the keynote address. Alfie Kohn was barred from speaking at an education conference in Massachusetts by the Department of Education because of his criticism of standardized testing. The American Civil Liberties Union sued on behalf of Kohn and a school principal, a counselor, and a parent who wanted to hear the speech. Kohn was scheduled to speak on standardized testing at a conference funded by the department in 2001. The DOE threatened to withdraw its money if Kohn was permitted to speak.
"The MCAS has not changed one bit in the past five years. He argues that such tests short-circuit real teaching and learning." ``It remains a test that measures what matters least about learning, and the damage it does because of its high-stake status is incalculable, both to the students who are forced out of school without a diploma because they don't think they can pass and how it displaces meaningful learning," said Alfie Cohen

Is America prepared to compete in the future global marketplace? A new study says a radical overhaul of American education is needed if we are to be prepared. Listen to HARRY SPENCE, author of Tough Choices or Tough Times report mp3


New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce.
Among the reports recommendations include: starting school for most children at age 3, and ending high school after 10th grade. Students then would opt for either technical college or spend two years in college prep courses.

2007 The U.S. Education Department reported nationwide, 73% of 12th-grade students achieved a "basic" reading score in 2005, down from 80% in 1992, according to the NAEPa sampling test the government calls the "nation's report card." Sixty-one percent scored at or above the basic level in math. National Assessment of Educational Progress Report - Download Report Could these disappointing results be blamed on stupid, malformed tests and the are making so much money for the companies who publish them?