Large 2011 SAT Score Decline Shows Failure of “No Child Left Behind" and the FCAT

From FairTest.org

LARGE SAT SCORE DECLINE SHOWS FAILURE OF “NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND” AND STATE HIGH-STAKES TESTING STRATEGY; FAIRTEST ASKS: “HOW MANY WAKE-UP CALLS DO POLICY-MAKERS NEED?”

Plunging SAT results released today show that, “’No Child Left Behind’ (NCLB) and state high-stakes testing programs are undermining school quality, even when measured by other standardized exams,” according to Bob Schaeffer, Public Education Director of FairTest, the National Center for Fair & Open Testing. Schaeffer continued, “With exploding cheating scandals and declines in college readiness scores, how many wake-up calls do policy-makers need before they admit that their test-and-punish strategy is a failure?”

A FairTest analysis shows that overall SAT averages dropped significantly under the NCLB federal testing mandate. At the same time, gaps between Whites, Asians, and historically disadvantaged African-Americans and Hispanics have been growing larger. ACT scores, made public last month, demonstrated similar patterns. Scores from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) also indicate that educational progress slowed in the NCLB era. Under NCLB, every public school student must be tested annually in grades three through eight and at least once in high school in both reading and math.

“Proponents of NCLB and similar state-level testing programs promised that overall achievement would improve while score gaps would narrow,” Schaeffer continued. “Precisely the opposite has taken place. Policymakers need to embrace very different policies if they are committed to real education reform.”

Schaeffer added, “Fortunately, many colleges have recognized the folly of fixating on the narrow, often inaccurate, information provided by standardized tests and moved toward test-optional admissions.” According to a free web database maintained by FairTest
http:www.fairtest.org/university/optional), more than 860 accredited, bachelor-degree granting institutions make admissions decisions about all or many applicants without regard to SAT or ACT scores. The list includes 35 of the nation’s 100 top-ranked liberal arts colleges.

http://fairtest.org/large-2011-SAT-score-decline-shows-NCLB-failure