Tester Pushes Overhaul of ‘No Child Left Behind’ Testing Policy

I was what you would call a 'non-traditional' learner in school. In a rare exception to my rebellious nature I excelled at tests and took them as often as offered. Maybe it was my way of showing 'The Man' that I'd even beat him at his own game.

Well, that landed me with an option to attend West Point or college of my choice with the Feds covering my higher education, IF, I gave back a few years of Teaching in exchange...

The rest is for another story... This much to say, I detest 'teaching to the test' and applaud Senator Tester.

-CG

Senator Jon Tester is pushing Congress to let teachers teach and let students learn.

Tester, a former public school teacher, today introduced a bill to remove the annual testing requirement under the federal No Child Left Behind Act and replace it with fewer federal tests.

Tester argued that annual federal testing eats up valuable classroom time and requires teachers to ‘teach to the test,’ instead of tailoring their lesson plans to the individual needs of their students.

“Students shouldn’t be spending most of their time in school filling out bubbles, Tester said.  “That’s not the kind of education that fosters critical thinking or creativity.  Students shouldn’t be learning for the test, they should be learning for life.”

Tester’s bill comes as Congress prepares to debate reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and is supported by School Administrators of Montana and the National Education Association.