Today Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings went up to Capitol Hill and took the opportunity to talk about the ongoing debate over testing.
Should it remain centered around a statewide test given once a year or should districts or even schools develop a series of tests that could eventually be used in accountability decisions?
As an architect of the current state-based approach, Ms. Spellings said she needs to be convinced there’s good reason for change.
In her brief presentation to a forum convened by the Congressional Black Caucus, she said she would oppose anything she believes would “water down the ability of African American kids... to read on grade level.”
In answering reporters’ questions after the event, she said she’s not certain that states are ready to implement such complex systems. More than five years after the original law passed, some states “still have issues” with implementing the current accountability system, she said.
Testing looks as if it will be the defining question in this reauthorization. When will Congress start providing answers?
