Mandated Annual Testing Is NOT Closing Achievement Gaps

At the federal, state and local level, some argue that mandated annual testing in reading and math is a civil rights issue. They say that without this kind of test-based accountability, the needs of poor students of color will be neglected. But if the goal of all this state and federal testing is to close gaps in achievement, it's not working, according to the evidence presented in the "Schott 50-State Report on Public Education and Black Males." 

Jeff Bryant highlighted the report and addressed the civil rights issue in his"Memo to Civil Rights Activists: Testing Isn't Helping." He wrote, "After 12 years of test-driven education accountability aligned with a 'civil rights' cause, you would expect to see substantial improvements among student populations most in need of being better served by the system. That's not the conclusion of a new report released by The Schott Foundation for Public Education." Read Jeff's piece here.