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In reply to the discussion: Obama to heckler: "Show me some courtesy" [View all]knitter4democracy
(14,350 posts)Testing, testing, and more testing. That's great for testing companies but terrible for students. Our students are so tested out these days that it's crazy. In order to prepare them for the high-stakes tests, we give them untold numbers of practice tests and practice problems and more--almost all of which cost money that goes right into the testing corporations' pockets.
As for being voluntary, with tax numbers going down, states are desperate for the funds attached to RTT. Once a state starts going for it, it's not voluntary for the districts. RTT says that student test scores have to be used in evaluating teachers, and so all the states that have opted in now require it, even when the data shows that it's not an effective measurement of teacher effectiveness or a motivator for teacher efficacy. RTT is based on bad data and even worse theory, and now it's the norm everywhere.
It's a terrible idea, and it's being applied exactly the way it was designed to be.