N. Carolina begins to turn away from testing

North Carolina, a state that led the nation in terms of emphasizing testing as one of the key methods to improve instruction, now appears to be about to reverse course. According to an article in the News and Observer, A Blue Ribbon Commission on Testing and Accountability is recommending eliminating or discounting many of the state’s tests.

Let’s hope other states follow – and that this testing mania soon fades from view. Somehow, somewhere along the way, a mass delusion seized our elected leaders and the business community, as well as some influential voices in the advocacy world, that more testing itself would somehow lead to more learning:

"We're testing more but we're not seeing the results," said Sam Houston, the commission's chairman. "We're not seeing graduation rates increasing. We're not seeing remediation rates decreasing. Somewhere along the way testing isn't aligning with excellence."