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Smart List: 60 People Shaping the Future of K-12 Education
Crucially, we need better assessment, which is not coextensive with assessments, although the new tests, when they appear (and I like what I have seen so far), will help. But by no means should good student assessment be based solely on external exams, which I believe we’ve had too much of in the United States; and I applaud Texas for turning back from a testing mania that even many ardent accountability hawks were finding too extreme.
A different approach to assessment, which informed opinion-makers like those reading this blog should be aware of, can be found in the South Pacific, where both Australia and New Zealand have put in several years worth of worthy work in developing school-based approaches to determining whether students are meeting national and state standards.
I agree with the comment made about better assessment. The only way to see our progress is through assessment. I think it should be viewed through the progress the students made throughout the year and not so much focused on a final exam.