Jonathan Pelto reports that Paul Vallas, the interim superintendent of Bridgeport, CT, has ordered that students there take three rounds of tests in addition to the Connecticut state tests.
This is indicative of a common fallacy among education reformers. They tend to think that the cure for low test scores is to take more tests. They think that the answer to low scores is to raise standards even higher.
By taking more tests, students will learn how important the tests are, they will get used to taking tests, they will be more ready for the next test. The problem with this reasoning is that testing is not teaching. Students are learning test-taking skills, which have no real value outside of K-12 schooling. This is not a skill in high demand anywhere else. More time for testing means less time for teaching. Less time for teaching means less time for learning.
Raising standards higher when kids can’t reach the ones you have is pointless. It’s like saying that if 50% of the children can’t jump over a 3-foot bar, the answer is to raise it to 4-feet. Next stop: grade inflation and credit recovery.
Bottom line: dumbing down education.
What these students need: more and better instruction.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Remind me again of the definition of insanity?
Fall Testing: October 1st through October 10th
Winter Testing: January 7th through January 16th
Spring Testing: May 28th through June 6th
So– counting the 2+ weeks of state mandated CAPT testing, that’s 33 days of school out of 180 given up for testing in total. That is over 18 percent. One in five days. Almost a full marking period (they are only 45 days or so.)
23 of those days are for these “benchmark” tests which are provided by for profit companies with no oversight. All chosen through a no-bid process. This is selling out our children– the urban and often underprivileged or challenged children who I have dedicated my life to teaching.
People may point out that the afternoons of these testing days are still dedicated to instruction, but the disruption is universal. All learning, work, and ongoing authentic assessment in the classroom during these times is impacted in a very serious way. An urban high school has enough disruptions to deal with.
Stop this.
The test material companies (with whom Vallas has some past business connections, incidentally), are becoming very wealthy at the expense of Bridgeport schools.
The same old song played out in darn near every classroom in America. When parents opt their children out of this nonsense, they are now guilty of excessive absenteeism. Please call me in Texas regarding the upcoming TASA convention (512) 801-6386.
I thought school was a place to learn, to make friends, to ask questions, to gain skills to solve problems and become an informed and an adult citizen that contributes to society, to sing, to play, to laugh, to have some really unforgettable happy memories and to prepare one for the opportunity to have a quality life. I didn’t think it was a place to prepare to take a test, take the test and do it all over again and again. This is school? This is education? I’m glad I’m not a student in today’s classrooms. This is insanity!