To Test or Not to Test?

Sometime in the next few weeks, Senate Republicans and Democrats will vote to reauthorize The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. The original goal of No Child Left Behind was to improve educational equity, especially for low income students and students of color. Today, the testing provisions of No Child Left Behind remain one of its more contentious aspects.

On the podcast this week, we talk to two education advocates who differ on how and when we should test our kids. Kati Haycock is president of The Education Trust. She argues testing provides invaluable data on the achievement gap for disadvantaged students. Monty Neill is executive director of the National Center for Fair and Open Testing, an organization that’s generally opposed to high-stakes standardized testing in public schools