NCLB High Stakes Testing is Counterproductive and Bad for our Nation

The choice, however, was never between do nothing or focus on high-stakes testing [to improve educational outcomes for high poverty students.] Better options have always existed. But these have been under-financed, not supported by the most visible and wealthy sectors in society. They also are more complex, not simplistic like tests, making them harder to sell with sound bites – as if the mind and learning were simple!

Testing is a cheap “fix.” Genuinely improving schools and teaching, and overcoming the poverty and segregation that are still the most significant factors in student outcomes, are expensive, complex and politically difficult. Too many members of Congress – and their state counterparts – are willing to accept the cheap way out, even if it is no solution at all.