High Stakes Tests Fail

THE BIGGEST NEWS YOU DIDN'T HEAR LAST WEEK
After analyzing National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) test
data from 25 states, three prominent education researchers have determined
that there is no consistent link between the pressure to score high on a
state-mandated exam and that state's student performance on the NAEP.
Sharon L. Nichols, the study's lead author, concluded: "A rapidly growing
body of research evidence on the harmful effects of high-stakes testing,
along with no reliable evidence of improved performance by students on
NAEP tests of achievement, suggests that we need a moratorium in public
education on the use of high-stakes testing."
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