The Patriot Post® · It's Time To Take Less Interest in School Tests

The National Assessment of Educational Progress, a federal standardized test that has measured student performance since 1990, recorded a drop in students’ academic ability this year. The “Nation’s Report Card” found, “The 2015 average [mathematics] scores were 1 and 2 points lower in grades 4 and 8, respectively, than the average scores in 2013.” Thanks Obama. Seriously — Common Core is part of the problem here, as the educational change disrupted students and teachers alike. But it’s not just about test scores, it’s that kids in public schools are learning less and less while we spend more and more. Democrat solution: Spend even more money. Every. Time. They also cut vital classes such as shop and home economics and replaced them with a drive to send every graduate to college.

The problem with tests was not lost on Barack Obama Saturday, when he called for schools to reduce the number of tests students take because it ultimately cuts into the amount of time students have to learn. “I hear from parents who rightly worry about too much testing,” Obama said, “and from teachers who feel so much pressure to teach to a test that it takes the joy out of teaching and learning both for them and for the students. I want to fix that.” It’s a noble gesture, but this large, centralized government uses tests to make many decisions about education policy, such as determining teacher performance. Unfortunately, they aren’t going away anytime soon.