A LIVE BROADCAST OF
NPR'S TALK OF THE NATION listen to the recorded broadcast
Program Schedule and Guests
Hour Two: HOW IS TESTING CHANGING TEACHING AND LEARNING?
Regardless of whether you are for or against standardized tests, they are now a fact of life in American education. All fifty states have some form of state standards, and test kids according to those standards. This past January, President Bush signed an education bill that will intensify the role of standardized tests in our nation's schools. The new law requires states to measure student performance annually in reading and math from grades three through eight. Ready or not, testing is here for the foreseeable future. But how is it affecting the classroom? Is it forcing teachers to do a better job, or are they simply teaching to the test? And are students really learning the skills that will prepare them for the real world or are they merely becoming proficient test takers?
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JAMES CARADONIO, Superintendent, Worcester (MA) Public Schools
• The superintendent's home page (Worcester Public Schools web site)
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LINDA NATHAN, Headmaster, Boston Arts Academy
• Nathan's biography (Boston Arts Academy web site)
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PAUL REVILLE, Chair, Massachusetts Education Reform Review Commission; Executive Director, Pew Forum on Standards Based School Reform; Harvard Graduate School of Education faculty member
• HGSE faculty profile
• Interview with Paul Reville on standards-based reform in U.S. education
Back to the Testing Our Schools home page
Photo credits: James Caradonio (Worcester Public Schools); Linda Nathan (Boston Arts Academy); Paul Reville (Harvard News Office)