Lennie Jarratt
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This was the first school year for the Common Core aligned testing Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC). Both teachers and parents complained about the tests, some for it’s length (10 hours) and some for the content. There were even groups informing and calling for parents to opt out their students from the tests. While there are many groups, especially teachers unions, calling for the elimination of high stakes testing, The Washington Post is calling to keep the tests, saying,
“But the solution is not to do away with tests; they are far too valuable in providing information on student achievement. The answer lies in better, smarter tests; that’s why the move to streamline assessments aligned with the Common Core State Standards should be applauded.”
The problem that The Washington Post fails to recognize is testing aligned with Common Core really aren’t testing knowledge, they are testing whether or not the teachers taught the Common Core standards well enough. Teaching to the test is what has been happening frequently since No Child Left Behind was passed by Republicans. Common Core and PARCC have now created an infinite loop: The teachers will now be teaching to the tests and testers will be testing to the teaching. The effect of this, when perfected, will be the ability to completely hide the failings of each part of the loop, which can easily be adjusted as needed to mask a broken, corrupt system.
