<p>< I guess I don't understand the OP rationale. What is the alternative that they are proposing. >
I got an education long before the proliferation of high-stakes testing. People did get educated back in the day. Beefing up the curriculum would help. Math education would be so much better if elementary school weren't such a joke. I was a top math student, but I didn't get algebra until 8th grade. I think I could have learned algebra as early as 4th grade if elementary school math didn't go back to 2+2=4 every year.</p>
<p>< Many states rely on standardized testing as a way to measure progress of schools and the students that attend those schools. >
When I was a K-12 student, the world didn't obsess about the scores as was the case today. Nobody was canned because scores fell short of expectations.</p>
<p>< Schools that teach to the test choose to teach to the test. >
THAT is dumbing down.</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. >
The SAT I and ACT are full of bull. At least diplomas and jobs aren't at stake. Can you imagine how flagrantly dumbed down high school would be if they taught to these tests?</p>
<p>AP and SAT 2 exams are better. At least these exams are based on the same subject matter as the curriculum, and learning clever tricks isn't as important. But high school shouldn't be taught according to even these more in-depth tests.</p>
<p>One of the biggest pet peeves of college professors is students who ask, "Will this be on the exam?" I can only imagined how annoyed the professors will be when it's their turn to teach students who have been pounded with high-stakes standardized testing all their lives.</p>