More and more groups call for an end to standardized testing

From the Orlando Sentinel by Leslie Postal

A collection of advocacy groups — all with a focus on education — are urging states and the federal government to scale back on high-stakes testing and adopt other measures to assess student and school performance.

The groups have put out a “National Resolution on High-Stakes Testing” similar to one recently adopted by more than 360 Texas school boards .

The groups, including Parents Across America, FairTest and the National Education Association, think ”over-reliance on high-stakes standardized testing in state and federal accountability systems is undermining educational quality and equity in U.S. public schools by hampering educators’ efforts to focus on the broad range of learning experiences that promote the innovation, creativity, problem solving, collaboration, communication, critical thinking and deep subject-matter knowledge.”

The groups argue that parents and schools are fed-up with all the testing and want better education for children, not “endless evaluation.”

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_education_edblog/2012/04/parents-civil-rights-anti-testing-groups-urge-time-out-from-testing.html