Across the U.S., the politically mandated misuse of standardized tests is damaging public schools and the children they serve. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s investigation of suspicious test scores around the nation is just the latest example. Experts may debate the methodology, but there is no question that cheating on standardized exams is widespread. In just the past three academic years, FairTest has documented confirmed cases of test score manipulation in 33 states plus the District of Columbia.
NCLB’s Lost Decade for Educational Progress: What Can We Learn from this Policy Failure?
By Lisa Guisbond with Monty Neill and Bob Schaeffer January 2012
The federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law failed badly in terms of its own goals, leading to a decade of educational stagnation, according to FairTest’s report marking NCLB’s tenth anniversary.
FairTest key recommendations to the Senate, October 16, 2011:
Here are FairTest’s key points that should be part of a Senate bill. We rely in part on the recommendations of the Forum on Educational Accountability (FEA). We specifically respond to some of the points in the Harkin-Enzi bill to reauthorize NCLB/ESEA.
Contacting your Senators to recommend changes to NCLB:
You can reach your members of Congress or the Committees by fax, phone, email or regular mail.
A fax is the best way to contact Senators, if you can, since it arrives immediately and you can provide a bit of detail (but keep it to a page, two at most). You can fax the Democrat majority of the HELP committee directly at 202-224-5128, and you can fax the Republicans at 202-224-6510.