Surf these sites: Brouhaha on National School Testing -- Most American parents are being told by local schools that their children rank "above average" in both reading and math. Christian Science Monitor. Bush Must Share Glory of Rising TAAS Scores -- Reforms helping today''s at-risk students began years before the governor took office. Austin 360. Bush Praises Local Districts'' Use of TAAS for Promotion -- Bush said he appreciates local school districts using the power of local control to address the problem of social promotions. Lubbock Online. Cheating Teacher Skews Schools'' Test Scores -- The unfair help given to students has forced Lawrence, Kansas school officials to ask the state Department of Education to throw out the results from the Iowa Reading Test taken in April 1998. Division of Student Assessment -- Texas Education Agency official site. Information on the TAAS and end-of-course examinations. Frontline: Secrets of the SAT -- Looks at standardized tests and examines the national obsession over them. Groups Allege Bias in Schools'' Test Preparations -- More than two dozen North Carolina school systems file a race-discrimination complaint over a competency test required for high school graduation. News-Observer High TAAS Scores Nothing to Cheer About? -- As TAAS scores continue to rise, the percentage of Texas students who require remediation in college has grown, and Texas SAT scores remain below the national average. IRA- High-Stakes Assessments in Reading -- Summary of a position statement of the International Reading Association. The full text of the paper is available in PDF format. Is There Too Much Testing in American Schools? -- From the Educational Testing Service. Kentucky School Testing Simplified -- State''s 14-year shape-up plan called CATS. Cincinnati Enquirer. Lawmaker Wants TAAS Testing to Include Special Ed Students -- A Houston legislator has filed a bill that would require all state school districts to include most special education students in the TAAS. Lubbock Online. Minority Groups Seek to Stop Achievement Testing -- A key Texas case goes to trial as minority groups seek to stop a school reform trend. U.S.News & World Report. NAEYC Position Statement: Standardized Testing of Young Children -- Summary of National Association for the Education of Young Children''s position statement, adopted in November 1987. Full text available in PDF format. NCTE Moves to Present Own Voice on High-Stakes Testing -- Members of the National Council of Teachers of English pass a resolution to encourage continued research regarding the political, educational, and social impact of high-stakes testing. National Center for Fair and Open Testing -- The nation''s only nonprofit advocacy organization dedicated to preventing the misuse of standardized tests. Offers a quarterly newsletter, fact sheets and other resources. National School Testing -- Oklahoma governor Frank Keating says President Clinton’s plans for national school testing are “seriously flawed." New York Cheating Teachers - NPR -- Teacher and school evaluations are often tied to such test scores. RealAudio. Ohio Proficiency Testing Examined -- An examination of the results of Ohio''s proficiency tests, finding evidence of socioeconomic bias. On Standardized Testing -- While standardized tests are problematic at all ages and levels of schooling, they are especially questionable in primary grades. ERIC Digest, 1991. Pass or Fail? -- Does testing unfairly discriminate against minorities? The case of GI Forum, et al. v. Texas is being closely watched by educators nationwide. Law News Network Proficiency Tests Score Unfairly -- Allegations of bias in Ohio. Reinventing Assessment -- "Too Much Testing of the Wrong Kind; Too Little of the Right Kind in K-12 Education." San Francisco School Tests - NPR -- A San Francisco School Board decision to defy the state law that requires all students to take standardized tests in English only. RealAudio. Scans: Real Tests for Real Kids -- Wired News: Canadian educational software developer Gerry Morgan may have found a way to assess qualities such as creativity, insight, and teamwork. Schools Panel Recommends Longer Year, Tougher Testing -- Recommendations for school improvement in Iowa. Standardized Test Scores - NPR -- A growing number of parents who are complaining that the use of standardized tests to promote or hold back students in public schools is unfair. RealAudio. State End-of-Course School Testing Pondered -- For North Carolina students, passing classes could soon hinge on making the grade on end-of-course tests. Fayetteville Online. State Idea to Expand TAAS Testing Unfair -- High Wired.net student opinion. Student Assessment and Testing -- Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory Equity Center position paper. Study Says Law Erases Link Between Schools'' Wealth, TAAS Results -- Texas'' share-the-wealth school finance law has erased the link between a school district''s wealth and how well its students perform on the academic skills test, according to a new Texas A&M study. Dallas Morning News. TAAS Cheating - NPR -- Several schools officials in Texas caught manipulating school testing data to improve their schools'' rankings. Requires RealAudio player. TAAS Provides Needed Accountability -- Amarillo Globe-News Opinion. Testing Taxing Limits Of Schools -- Teachers and principals fear the nation''s growing preoccupation with testing is affecting the classroom in a way that legislators and policymakers may never have intended. Salt Lake Tribune. Testing in American Schools: Asking the Right Questions -- These new approaches are attractive, but inevitably carry some drawbacks. Complete article available in PDF format. The TAAS Test -- Issues page from the Parents'' Coalition of Texas. Too Good To Be True - New Orleans Schools Test Results -- Scores and testing practices raise suspicions of experts. Special report by the Times-Picayune. Virginia School Tests - NPR -- The reaction in Virginia to the state''s efforts to connect test scores to school accreditation. RealAudio. Why Standardized Tests Don''t Measure Educational Quality -- The chief indicator by which most communities judge a school staff''s success is student performance on standardized achievement tests. Educational Leadership Journal. Why Testing Experts Hate Testing -- The strengths and weaknesses of standardized testing and ways of improving it. Why the Testing Craze Won''t Fix Our Schools -- A collection of articles examining the use of proficiency tests. Rethinking Schools, Spring 1999.
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