Last year, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development reported that the U.S. fell to an "average" rating in terms of economic performance.
According to last year's report, the U.S. ranked 14 in reading skills, 17 for science and 25 for math, out of 34 countries.
Clearly, reforms such as No Child Left Behind are not working.
One of the main complaints about NCLB is that it focuses too much on testing as a standard to judge student performance.
Teachers complain about teaching to the test rather than more important material. But are these complaints just talking points?
Recently, Miami-Dade County Public Schools decided to make final exams and midterms optional for sixth- to 12th-grade students.
Why make such a radical move?
Because it already has federal, state and local assessments that students have to take throughout each school year. Some of these are state-mandated while others come from parts of NCLB.
When schools worry about burdening their students with midterms and final exams, can they really say that a problem does not exist?
Generally, teacher-created exams are a lot more challenging and help students learn the material better than standardized tests. Teachers have higher expectations than bureaucrats. But, because school funding is tied to these test results, teachers have to spend more time "teaching to the test" than focusing on important material.
Occasionally, like in Atlanta public schools, this can have dire consequences for our education system and, more importantly, the students.
Georgia's Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests determine whether a school makes "adequate yearly progress," a criterion for the school to receive federal grants under NCLB.
Atlanta teachers and principals at about 44 public schools in the district were accused of cheating on the CRCT in 2009. The district might be forced to give back about $1 million in grants to the federal government.
While the teachers and administrators are at fault in this situation, one must recognize that the motivation for this behavior comes from the federal and state governments.
The "testing" culture cultivated by top-down federal education programs may create the image of success by producing "high" test scores on subpar tests, but they do little to advance our education system.
It's no wonder that fewer and fewer students come to college prepared to write extensive papers, take essay exams or stay focused during a lecture.
