One of the major themes of our upcoming campaign for Better Angels, No Soul Left Behind, is the ongoing testing mania in American schools today. Ever since the passage of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), American schools have made students take more and more standardized tests. The benefits and costs of this practice are being debated by educators, parents, and legislators. Learning about the effects of NCLB will help any GM prepare for running No Soul Left Behind:
- A question about a race between a pineapple and a hare on a test raised concerns over the validity of a standardized test in New York. Look at the question here (PDF).
- In New York, over 200,000 students are expected to opt out of Common Core testing due to the controversy over the value of the test.
- Educators in Atlanta cheated on tests in order to get funding for their schools. Many teachers and officials were arrested for the fraud.
- Tested, a book about NCLB goes into more detail about educational policy today. Read an excerpt here.
John Oliver investigated standardized testing in his show Last Week Tonight. It’s available on Youtube.