More Than a Score

Starred review from October 27, 2014
The eagerly engaged voices assembled here present an action plan to combat the increase in high-stakes standardized testing currently plaguing K–12 education. Editor and Seattle teacher Hagopian, whose boycott of testing at Garfield High joined a wave of opt-out movements across the country, creates space for the voices of teachers, parents, and students in the ongoing debate about education reform and testing. Readily highlighting the drive to turn public education over to private companies, Hagopian and crew scathingly indict test preparation giant Pearson, the Chicago Public School System, the arrogance of the Texas State Legislature, and programs like No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top; Education Secretary Arne Duncan also comes under fire for his support of repetitive standardized testing over more free-form education. But the focus is on doing rather than shouting, and each essay in this anthology is a blueprint for civic action. Cauldierre McKay, Aaron Regunberg, and Tim Shea offer a lively account of the audacious, well-orchestrated protest at the entrance of the Rhode Island Department of Education in Providence, where students put on zombie makeup and ultimately convinced the state to issue a three-year moratorium on standardized testing. Tension builds in parent Kristin Roberts’s chronicle of the creative “play-in” protests in Chicago that helped end testing for kindergartners, and teacher Sarah Chambers’s hard-hitting piece exposes the bullying tactics of the Chicago Public School System under Mayor Rahm Emanuel. The contributors build on Hagopian’s optimism for the blooming of an “educational spring” and make this book exceptional.

November 1, 2014
A collection of writings about and against the educational model of standardized testing.In the foreword, Diane Ravitch (Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America's Public Schools, 2013, etc.) discusses the policies that she helped shape, which would lead to the need for this book. In her position as a top-ranking official in the Department of Education, she channeled years of research into the creation of solutions to fix what was perceived as a substandard education system. Higher standards, measured by tests reflecting teacher success, were thought to be the way forward. As the standards were implemented, Ravitch's research into the results pointed toward a different outcome-that the only things truly "fixed" by these new standards were, in fact, the parts that weren't broken. As educators have spoken out about the failings of the approach, the criticisms have coalesced into a unified discontentment. In this collection, editor and history teacher Hagopian pulls material from a wide range of sources; his contribution stems from his role at Garfield High School, the site of the boycott of the Measures of Academic Progress testing in 2013. Other teachers from schools across the nation, with varying backgrounds (those backgrounds often provide the impetus for their essays), also share anecdotal stories, hard data and compelling arguments against a system that rewards teachers for narrowing their efforts toward achieving the all-important test score and punishes them for the outside-the-box thinking that was once considered essential for being able to reach the greatest number of students. Alfie Kohn provides the introduction, and other notable contributors include Alma Flor Ada, Phyllis Tashlik and Carol Burris. Essays, speeches and interviews also come from students, parents and government officials, providing a comprehensive guide to the pitfalls of standardized testing, with arguments to win over even the most skeptical school reformer.

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November 15, 2014
In conversations about public education, few phrases conjure as much controversy as standardized testing. While policymakers and op-ed pieces usually stick to predictable talking points ( accountability, outcomes, and performance ), it's rare to hear actual stakeholders weigh in to protest these evaluative methods, which have swept the U.S. virtually uncontested. In this overdue addition to the heated debate, high-school history teacher Hagopian collects articles by and interviews with teachers, students, parents, and administrators, all of whom oppose widespread testing in its current forms. Mallory Clark, a reading specialist at Garfield High in Seattle, pens an open letter to a former student, apologizing for administering the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP). Alexia Garcia, a 2013 graduate of Lincoln High School in Oregon, explains the organizing efforts of the Portland Student Union in protesting the imposition of numerous tests. Chicago Teachers Union president Karen Lewis laments testing debacles within Illinois public education. An array of outraged, insightful, and inspiring selections, this necessary collection should be required reading for educators, parents, and students affected by unremitting corporate education strategies.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)