Testing, 101: A Matter Of Trust

Last week, the folks over at Fordham thought I was "unimaginative" for raising warning flags about the current testing mess and belittling the immediate prospects for national standards.

This week, they echo much of what I've been saying: "This problem needs solving, and fast," writes Checker Finn in this week's Gadfly. "Unsolved, it jeopardizes the entire regimen that we know as standards-based reform and results-based accountability."

Like me, Checker knows that the current testing mess is more of a debacle than an opportunity. The first order of business is to restore a reasonable level of trust in testing. The next is to find ways to improve state standard and accountability systems. National testing is going to have to wait.