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Not surprisingly, the huge, national college admissions scandal -- with a major testing component -- dominated this week's education news.  The fact that so many other stories about standardized exams also appeared attests to the power of parents, educators and activists in making assessment reform a powerful issue.

Florida Students Get More Time for Test Prep, Not Learning

Between expensive test prep, pricey advisors, unethical, and, in this case, downright illegal behavior, ACT and SAT scores are easily “gamed” by those with financial means. To reduce the unfair advantage that people with abundant resources have in our test-reliant admissions system, FairTest leads the national movement for test-optional admissions policies. Today more than 1,000 colleges and universities have test-optional policies that evaluate an applicant's entire portfolio.

The advent of public school testing season brings with it heightened grassroots pressure for meaningful assessment reform.  From third-grade promotion exams to high school graduation tests to exam-score-based teacher evaluations, policymakers are responding to concerns from parents, students, educators and community leaders. 

Ever-growing numbers of Americans are coming to understand that decades of test-and-punish policies have failed to boost educational quality or enhance equity.  Many states are getting the message and backing away from high-stakes exams, as this week's news stories and commentaries demonstrate.

Each week there's more evidence that parents, educators and students are fed up with testing overkill.  Campaigns to replace standardized exam misuse and overuse with authentic assessments are succeeding in many locations.  Send FairTest news of your victories to share with our more than 2,000 subscribers to these free updates.  Remember that your friends and allies can sign up at:

Assessment reform stories from more than a third of all 50 states in just the past week demonstrate the breadth and depth of the movement to replace standardized exam overkill with better forms of assessment.  FairTest staff stands ready to assist local activists with their campaigns -- just contact us via email or phone.   

With Spring testing season on the horizon, parents and educators are mobilizing increasing pressure on policy makers to implement meaningful assessment reforms. Let FairTest know how we can help support your local campaigns.

Connecticut Principal Accused of Test-Tampering Will Lose Teaching Certificate

Progress on many elements of the assessment reform agenda is visible in this week's news clips.  Among the top priorities for 2019 and beyond:

Anyone who thinks assessment reform campaigns (and victories) are confined to a few "liberal" states, should check out this week's stories from places such as Mississippi, Oklahoma and Wyoming.  The movement to roll back standardized exam overuse and misuse is truly national, cutting across traditional partisan and ideological lines, and it is accelerating rapidly.

Assessment reform proposals are a high priority in many state capitals as legislative sessions get underway.  Proposed bills call for cutting the number of tests, reducing high-stakes misuses, and stopping the practice of awarding school grades based on test results. Several new governors and superintendents of education are also taking the lead in rolling back standardized exam overkill.

National Is It Time to Kill Annual Testing Requirement?