Standardized testing IS important and useful when it stays in its box and doesn't pretend to evaluate teachers, etc. If the elephant is student academics in the narrow scope of what's tested (e.g., reading comprehension, math), then the tests give valid and reliable information. The problem is that policymakers have made an elephant to include everything under the sun in areas where the tests are meaningless. Keep tests in their box and use the results appropriately. We need the data. For example, it's the standardized tests that have shown massive declines for students using vouchers and better public school performance. Without the data, privatizers could still be saying vouchers are needed to help academics.
Standardized testing IS important and useful when it stays in its box and doesn't pretend to evaluate teachers, etc. If the elephant is student academics in the narrow scope of what's tested (e.g., reading comprehension, math), then the tests give valid and reliable information. The problem is that policymakers have made an elephant to include everything under the sun in areas where the tests are meaningless. Keep tests in their box and use the results appropriately. We need the data. For example, it's the standardized tests that have shown massive declines for students using vouchers and better public school performance. Without the data, privatizers could still be saying vouchers are needed to help academics.