Robert Samuelson is just plain wrong when he states that the alternative to tests is “no standards, no accountability” (Commentary, Feb. 2). This extreme view ignores such serious questions as the reliability, margin of error and limited focus of standardized tests.
Test results that are easily compromised by excessive teaching to the test and re-use of supposedly secret tests can hardly be held up as models of accountability. To have standards and accountability requires more effort; it requires the eyes, ears and judgment of real human beings and high-quality, varied measures that are understood and supported by the school community.
We are at a critical moment when everyone seems to agree that we must do more for our children’s education. Let’s not allow the rhetoric of false choices to divert us from the real task at hand–that is, providing the opportunity for a high-quality education to every child in America.
