Education Revolution

TO AVOID SLIPPING BACKWARDS ON EDUCATION REFORM, DRAFT “RACE TO THE TOP” GUIDELINES MUST BE REVISED

During his campaign for the Presidency, Barack Obama said, “We should not be forced to spend the academic year preparing students to fill in bubbles on standardized tests.” Candidate Obama added that the nation needs to use “a broader range of assessments that can evaluate higher-order skills, including students’ abilities to use technology, conduct research, engage in scientific investigation, solve problems, present and defend their ideas.” Just this June, President Obama explained that assessments could include “one standardized test, plus portfolios of work that kids are doing, plus observing the classroom. There can be a whole range of assessments.”

Unfortunately, many of the “Race to the Top” (RTTT) draft guidelines issued by the Department of Education represent a step backwards from the President’s goals. The proposals would actually make high-stakes testing problems worse without providing sufficient support for “a broader range of assessments.” The guidelines are not rooted in evidence of how to improve schools. By focusing on new national standards and tests, they distract attention from necessary reforms, such as overhauling state assessment systems and supporting collaborative efforts to improve schools. They also overemphasize the value of test scores in data systems.

RTTT’s focus on high-stakes testing goes well beyond what even the test-centric No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law now requires. The Department of Education must overhaul its draft guidelines. Here’s what’s wrong with the current draft and how to improve it:

Read more at:

http://www.fairtest.org/fairtest-critical-comments-us-education-department