Report Finds that High Stakes Testing is Harmful to Student Learning

Posted on Saturday February 4, 2012

A new study has found consistent evidence in international research that high stakes testing is harmful to student learning, teaching, school curriculum and student well-being. < >> Read on...

The Game is Up on League Tables

Posted on Friday January 27, 2012

The UK Government has attempted to stop schools “gaming” their results by concentrating on borderline students at the expense of high and low achieving students. >> Read on...

US Education Dept. Acts on Cheating in Tests

Posted on Tuesday January 24, 2012

The US Education Department has become so worried about continuing cheating scandals in schools across the country that it has issued a public request for information about practices to prevent and detect cheating by schools on standardised tests. >> Read on...

Several Schools Found to be Cheating in NAPLAN Tests

Posted on Wednesday January 18, 2012

Several teachers were found to have helped students with answers during last year’s NAPLAN tests. Several schools were also found to have encouraged some parents to withdraw their children from the tests. >> Read on...

Now it is Exam Boards Caught Cheating

Posted on Thursday December 15, 2011

A huge cheating scandal has erupted in Britain. Exam boards have been found to be routinely giving teachers information about future questions and areas of the syllabus that would be assessed. One examiner was secretly recorded as admitting that “we’re cheating”. >> Read on...

Teachers Say the Curriculum is Being Narrowed by Testing

Posted on Tuesday December 13, 2011

A national survey of teachers in the United States has found that some core subjects have been effectively abandoned as a result of increased testing of literacy and mathematics.< >> Read on...

Students Taught Only Reading & Maths for a Year

Posted on Thursday November 24, 2011

Students at an ‘exemplary’ Texas school were taught only reading and mathematics for most of last year in order to boost its test scores. >> Read on...

OECD Study Highlights Negative Consequences of High-Stakes Testing

Posted on Friday October 28, 2011

A new paper from the OECD highlights the negative impacts of high-stakes testing on education. It says that the evidence is mixed on whether standardised tests lead to improved student outcomes, but there is greater certainty that they have negative consequences which may nullify any positive effects. >> Read on...

Outrage at Naming and Shaming Students

Posted on Saturday October 22, 2011

Another example of how high stakes tests lead to extremes. A US school required students to use colour-coded ID cards based on student performance in standardised tests. >> Read on...

Tests Don’t Measure Critical Thinking

Posted on Thursday July 28, 2011

An organiser of the Save Our Schools March on Washington says he is marching because test-based accountability has devalued and undermined learning. >> Read on...

Investigation Reports on America’s Biggest Cheating Scandal

Posted on Saturday July 9, 2011

An investigation into the biggest cheating scandal ever in the US found rampant systematic cheating, widespread conspiracy to cover up the cheating and intimidation of whistleblowers. >> Read on...

There is a New Subject Called NAPLAN and a New Ailment Called “NAPLAN Belly” in Schools

Posted on Friday May 20, 2011

The pressure on schools, teachers and students over NAPLAN mushroomed this year. It is said that NAPLAN is a new subject at school. Many young children went through incredible stress. “NAPLAN belly” is a new ailment in schools. >> Read on...

UK Govt Acts on Perverse Incentives of School League Tables

Posted on Tuesday May 17, 2011

The UK Government has announced new performance measures in an attempt to overcome perverse incentives from league tables for schools to neglect low and high achieving students. >> Read on...

‘Test-Prepping’ and Drilling Students for NAPLAN Has Taken Over the Classroom

Posted on Tuesday May 10, 2011

This week’s NAPLAN tests have put students and teachers under incredible pressure as school reputations and careers are on the line because of My School. Practicing and drilling for NAPLAN has taken over classrooms and the curriculum in the first part of the school year to the detriment of good teaching and learning. >> Read on...

Rorting of School Results in Florida

Posted on Friday April 29, 2011

A new study published by Federal Reserve Bank of New York shows that many Florida schools excluded low performing students from tests to boost school results when the Florida accountability scheme was introduced. Similar practices were used in last year’s NAPLAN tests in Australia and will be repeated in the next round of tests in May. >> Read on...

ACARA Plays King Canute on Cheating

Posted on Friday April 8, 2011

ACARA has taken on the role of King Canute in the vain hope of stemming the tide of cheating on national literacy and numeracy tests. >> Read on...

Teaching to the Test

Posted on Tuesday April 5, 2011

The announcement that the NAPLAN writing test in 2011 will test persuasive writing has got everyone practising the task. It is a good example of how My School promotes teaching to the test. >> Read on...

President Obama Says Testing Makes Education Boring

Posted on Thursday March 31, 2011

President Obama says that standardised testing makes education boring and school performance should be measured in other ways than just exam results. He also criticised teaching to the test. >> Read on...

Testing times for My School Website

Posted on Friday March 25, 2011

My School is a second-rate measure of school performance. >> Read on...

School Reputations Trashed by My School Errors

Posted on Wednesday March 9, 2011

Hundreds of Australian schools have had their reputations needlessly trashed for over a year as a result of My School 1.0, according to writer and public education advocate Chris Bonnor. >> Read on...

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