Brookings researcher Matthew Chingos estimates the annual cost of testing as $1.7 billion, but Anthony Cody says that is a very low estimate.
Since Texas alone pays $100 million every year to Pearson, it does sound like an underestimate, since the cost of the tests doesn’t really cover all the costs of assessment (and accountability).
Nor does it cover the cost of lost creativity, lost instructional time, and diversion of attention from more important educational outcomes than test scores.
When Texas former state commissioner of education Robert Scott said that testing had become “the heart of the vampire” and that it was all about money, not about education, it was not just the dollar cost to which he was referring.
For having spoken what educators believe about the current testing fanaticism, Scott is no longer state commissioner of education.
Testing has many costs other than paying for the product.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
The cost of testing also has to include the cost of test prep, both time and money.
When state HSA tests are given in mid-May, they are given in the morning at my high school. If a student is not taking an HSA test, they do not have to come to school that morning. Lunch is after the HSA test, and then there are three classes after lunch. That’s three classes out of the seven that are usually taught each day. That schedule goes on for three (or is it four) days.
When AP tests are given in early May, they go on for two weeks. If a student takes an AP test, they miss their normal morning classes, and are expected to make up any missed work. At our school, AP tests are taken by a large percentage of the students. Some students take as many five or six AP tests during those two weeks. Our school counselors and administrators proctor the AP tests. Why are AP given during school time, and why is the College Board allowed to rely on our school staff to proctor the exams, with no payment to the staff that proctors them? College Board gets a lot of money from each student, yet none is paid to the staff that actually administers the test.
When PSAT tests are given in the fall, that’s another missed morning of classes. Plus, teachers here at the school proctor that exam. Later in December, time is again taken from our schedule for homeroom to hand back the PSAT scores. Why doesn’t the PSAT simply mail the scores to the students? I get no renumeration from them for doing their work.
I have a hard drive full of great lessons that I used to use as recently as six years ago. I no longer use them mainly due to the steady drain of class time.
I’m sure that the unholy union of the College Board and Pearson will be eagerly cashing in even more, as the CCSS ramp up. In the meantime, my own teaching will continue to be stripped to a minimum as instructional time is lost.
First and Immediate Casualty: lost productivity/wages of professional staff at all levels and in all capacities as related to testing, i.e. how much are we paying professionals to go through the testing motions from start to finish vs. instruction of knowledge, facts, and procedures?
Second and Long Term Casualty: lost potential life earnings, knowledge, and productivity of students as opportunities for genuine learning experiences are replaced with testing, e.g. how much do students/parents/companies spend on remedial coursework/training due mostly in part to testing over discovery and learning?
Very real casualties with very real consequences. Perhaps this is what was “really” meant by the Rice/Klein U.S. Education Reform and National Security report.
In the Great State of New Jersey massive amounts of money are being spent by local school districts to comply with state TESTING and ACCOUNTABILITY and an ill crafted BULLYING bill signed by our Governor.
Consultants, and companies like Teachscape, Pearson and others are drawing incredible amounts of money out of classrooms and away from instruction. Additionally, schools are hiring more administrators to do “learning walks” and attend meetings trying to figure out a response to “reforms” (new tests, accountability, bullying, student test score driven evaluation systems and more).
Our Commissoner of Education speaks of spending more on education than any of his predecessors BUT WHAT HE LEAVES OUT is where the money is going. He is bringing the same results to NJ that he brought to the stockholders of Edison Schools.
Do you have a hall of shame? If so I nominate the feckless members of the New Jersey Board of Education. They now have a lost cost bias and nod and smile at every lie the hear.
When high test scores are the goal and not triangulated with other measures, I’d say the entire K12 buget is “spent” on testing.
Diane — Who are the members of Parcc? How did they get in power and what are their affiliations with Pearson Publishing??
Marge
A caval donato non si guarda in bocca!
Marge
Take a look at this article and gag. I nearly threw up while reading this information from the Washington Post.
According to this article from June 2012 from the Washington Post, the US is spending somewhere between $20-$50 Billion annually. Here is the link.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/testing-mandates-flunk-cost-benefit-analysis/2012/06/30/gJQACqfsDW_blog.html
There is simply no way to justify this gross expenditure when our schools are dying for cash for needed programs, not punitive boondoggles.