[RSCT] Fwd: [arn-l] Duncan to Fund "Uniform" Test Development

[Monty Neill]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Bob Schaeffer <bobschaeffer at earthlink.net>
Date: Mon, Jun 15, 2009 at 8:00 AM
Subject: [arn-l] Duncan to Fund "Uniform" Test Development
To: arn2-strategy <arn2-strategy at yahoogroups.com>, ARN State <
ARN-state at yahoogroups.com>, rethinkaccountdc <
rethinkaccountdc at yahoogroups.com>, ARN Main List <arn-l at interversity.org>


**

U.S. TO SPEND UP TO $350 MILLION FOR UNIFORM TESTS IN READING, MATH
Associated Press -- June 15, 2009

Raleigh, N.C. -- The federal government will spend up to $350 million to
help states developing national standards for reading and math, Education
Secretary Arne Duncan announced Sunday.

In the current patchwork of benchmarks across the nation, students and
schools considered failing in one state might get passing grades in another.
The Obama administration is urging states to replace their standards for
student achievement with a common set.

Every state except Alaska, South Carolina, Missouri and Texas has signed on
to the concept, but getting them to adopt whatever emerges as the national
benchmark will be politically difficult.

Duncan said the government's spending will go for the development of tests
that would assess those new standards.

The money will come from the Education Department's $5 billion fund to
reward states that adopt innovations the Obama administration supports.

"Resources are important, but resources are actually a small piece of this
puzzle," Duncan said in an interview with the Associated Press. "What's
really needed here is political courage. We need governors to continue to
invest their energy and political capital."

Duncan announced the spending plan Sunday at a conference for education
experts and 20 governors hosted by the National Governors Association and
the James B. Hunt Jr. Institute for Educational Leadership and Policy.

"Historically, this was a third rail. You couldn't even talk about"
standards, Duncan said in the interview. "What you've seen over the past
couple years is a growing recognition from political leaders, educators,
unions, nonprofits -- literally every sector -- coming to realize that 50
states doing their own thing doesn't make sense."

Any tests developed for the new standards would probably replace existing
ones.

Asked to explain the money's focus on developing more tests, Duncan said
developing the standards themselves would be relatively inexpensive.

Developing assessments, by contrast, is a "very heavy lift financially," he
said, expressing concern that the project could stall without federal
backing.

"Having real high standards is important, but behind that, I think in this
country we have too many bad tests," Duncan said. "If we're going to have
world-class international standards, we need to have world-class evaluations
behind them."




-- 
Monty Neill, Ed.D
Deputy Director
FairTest
15 Court Sq, Ste 820
Boston, MA 02108
monty at fairtest.org
857-350-8207; fax 850-357-8209
www.fairtest.org
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