Testing Faces Ups and Downs Amid Recession

As the recession crimps education budgets, states are beginning to pare the number of standardized tests they give, particularly those that no longer factor into state or federal accountability decisions.

At the district level, though, it’s a different story. Despite pressure not to cut staffing and programs, many districts are preserving local "interim" or "benchmark" tests meant to gauge how students are progressing over the course of the year—even though such assessments are not required under the federal No Child Left Behind Act or generally by state officials.

The trend provides insights into how the landscape of educational testing has shifted over the past decade to the more...