History of IDEA
Jeannie Oakes, Founder and Former Director
Youth Voice in School Finance
NEW REPORT: Los Angeles' road to A-G for all
Without Dollars and Sense Powerpoint
Past Educational Opportunity Reports
Expert vs. me on testing
- 07-29-2011
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Blog by Jay Mathews/Washington Post
Bob Schaeffer of FairTest, the National Center for Fair and Open Testing, asked to respond to my column last week, “Easing test pressure won’t save kids.” I said eliminating high-stakes tests was not a realistic response to the outbreak of cheating by educators. Pressure is a necessary part of school, or any human endeavor, I said. If we eliminated the standardized tests that upset many people, we would have to use something else, like inspections or portfolios, that would create new pressures and temptations to take shortcuts. Schaeffer is smart and erudite. I wanted more from him than a response. So I talked him into a debate on the blog. Here it is, the result of e-mails exchanged the past several days: (more...)
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