<p>I guess I don't understand the OP rationale. What is the alternative that they are proposing.</p>
<p>Many states rely on standardized testing as a way to measure progress of schools and the students that attend those schools. Schools that teach to the test choose to teach to the test. Most students should be able to pass these tests because they are minimums, not maximums. </p>
<p>I understand that some students are not good at taking tests or have learning disabilities. However, there needs to be some measure of progress. </p>
<p>At some point high stakes testing is required in the form of AP, SAT 1, SAT 2 and ACT tests. The college administrators like these because an excellent grade in one school does not equal an excellent grade in another. They would like to know that between 2 A math students which ones actually have an understanding of the material. Imagine the surprise of the A math student who gets a 500 on their SATs. </p>
<p>I believe that:</p>
<p>
[quote]
You get what you measure
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Without standardized testing you get nothing because nothing is measure. However, it does seem to me that we need to work a bit more on measuring the right things in order to accomplish the desired result.</p>