Why We Need National Testing

Education Week has been running a great ongoing blog between Diane Ravitch and Debbie Meier, two education folks from opposite sides of the spectrum. In the most recent post, Ravitch talked a lot about NAEP and its importance as a national benchmark. I'm really interested in Meier's response.

You describe these determinations about what students should know and be able to do as “politically” determined, because they are based on expert judgment, including the judgment of teachers of students in a particular grade. The NAEP standards are based on expert judgments, and when last I participated as a member of the National Assessment Governing Board, the process of setting standards was managed by the American Institutes of Research in a very professional manner.

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