Testy about Testing

摘要

Discussions of standardized testing often seem to be about anything but the tests themselves. Advocates of school choice and vouchers hope that poor test results for public school students will convince lawmakers to allow some public money to be used to subsidize private school education. Test results are being used to guide decisions about how funding should be distributed among public schools. Colleges of education are being challenged to release results of how their graduates perform on teacher certification exams. The Supreme Court has agreed to review the question of affirmative action because of complaints that some minority students with low standardized test scores are being admitted to selective state universities. With so many powerful and emotionally charged issues swirling around, it is often difficult to focus on the tests themselves.