High Stakes Testing
School & District Management
Opinion
There Is Rampant Distrust in Education. Here's How to Fix That
Is it possible to replace a culture of long-simmering distrust? Only if education leaders make some serious changes, writes Katherine Schultz.
Assessment
Math Scores Slide to a 20-Year Low on ACT
The continuing decline in math achievement comes even as fewer students are taking the college-readiness exam.
Assessment
Conn. Stumbles in Quest to Use SAT as Achievement Test
The state's closely watched bid falls shy of full approval from federal reviewers.
Assessment
Was the SAT Leaked? Six Questions Answered
Rumors are circulating that the exam reused questions from a test given in Asia last fall. Here's what you need to know.
Special Education
Suit Targets ACT on Student Privacy
The lawsuit alleges that the testmaker "stigmatizes" student with disabilities by flagging their test scores for colleges.
Assessment
Opinion
We All Need to Get Smarter About Testing
What is “assessment literacy,” and why should we all care about it? Testing expert W. James Popham explains.
Every Student Succeeds Act
States Slow to Adopt ESSA's Testing Flexibility
Two years after the Every Student Succeeds Act passed, few seem eager to let districts give a nationally recognized college entrance exam in place of the state assessment for high school accountability.
Law & Courts
A Cheating Scandal Rocked Atlanta. Efforts to Help Affected Students Still Fall Short
After the largest cheating scandal in U.S. history, the district attempts to give extra support to some students who were impacted.
Assessment
Video
The Aftermath of the Atlanta Test Cheating Scandal
Eleven Atlanta educators convicted of conspiracy in one of the nation’s largest cheating scandals are just now beginning their appeals, more than two years after they were sentenced to prison. Nearly 200 educators in Atlanta public schools were caught up in the scandal, suspected of erasing and correcting student answers on standardized tests, in order to boost scores. They were under enormous pressure from the federal No Child Left Behind law and from their own superintendent, Beverly Hall, who set targets even higher than the federal government. Thousands of students were impacted, and now, many years later, the district has set up a program to offer extra help to those students who remain in Atlanta public schools. We spoke with those at the heart of the case – an educator, the judge, the district attorney, and students who are about to graduate.
School & District Management
Indiana Testing Woes Fuel Electoral Battles
Political heartburn continues in the Hoosier State over high-stakes assessments, with the issue spilling over into this year's contests for governor and state schools superintendent.
School & District Management
Opinion
Leadership Response to the Demand for Change
Leaders in this century must be leaders of change. In their discernment role, they must also determine the change to embrace and the one to resist.
Every Student Succeeds Act
Explainer
The Every Student Succeeds Act: An ESSA Overview
2015's Every Student Succeeds Act rolls back much of the federal government's big footprint in education policy.
School & District Management
Advocacy Group Slams States for Overtesting, Other Policies
Many states rely too heavily on standardized testing, open their doors too easily to charters and vouchers, and fall short in supporting teachers, the Network for Public Education says.
Assessment
PARCC Scores Lower for Students Who Took Exams on Computers
The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers acknowledged the discrepancies in scores between its paper and computer exams in response to questions from Education Week.