Is Missouri headed toward this- 32 standardized tests a year?

One thing that has been a hallmark of these so-called educational reform plans, whether it be No Child Left Behind, Race to the Top, or any of the various state and local plans, is an increasing number of standardized tests.

 The Washington Post today features a report on a school district in Pittsburgh, Pa., where the students take 32 standardized tests a year. While that sounds totally outrageous, that is where Missouri is headed, also.

 For the past several years, for example, the Joplin R-8 School District, not only has taken two or three weeks worth of MAP tests each year, but has taken a series of practice tests called Acuity to prepare for MAP.

 The students have to take seven Acuity tests prior to MAP and another one afterward. As I have noted numerous times, McGraw-Hill, the company that constructs both the MAP and Acuity tests, also has practice tests for the practice tests.

That type of approach certainly cuts down on the amount of time available for teaching. Now the whole state will have the opportunity to go through the Joplin system, since Missouri Education Commissioner Chris Nicastro announced recently that the state has once again purchased standardized tests from McGraw-Hill, but has also for the first time bought Acuity.

 More testing for all students and Ms. Nicastro is acting like that is a positive development.

The Washington Post article on the Pittsburgh district ends like this:

Education officials in the district say they are trying to reduce the number of tests students have to take. Fine, but how did they are their bosses let this situation develop in the first place? It’s nothing short of nutty — and it isn’t a problem unique to Pittsburgh; kids around the country are being tested ad nauseam. A revolt against this nonsense is growing around the country with parents, teachers, students, principals, superintendents, school boards and even business leaders raising their voices against it. The question is whether anybody with power to stop it is listening.