Pro to the question "Is the use of standardized tests improving education in America?"
Reasoning:
"Standardized tests do not, and cannot, produce perfect measures, and no one claims that they can...
The measures are used, despite their imperfections, because in most situations in science as well as in life some information for making decisions is better than none. Useful measures provide information whose benefits outweigh any cost and imprecision, and whose positive net benefits exceed those of any practical alternative.
...
Without high-stakes standardized testing, we would increase our reliance on teacher grading and testing. Are teacher evaluations free of standardized testing's alleged failings? No. Individual teachers can narrow the curriculum to that which they prefer. Grades are susceptible to inflation with ordinary teachers, as students get to know a teacher better and learn his idiosyncrasies. A teacher's (or school's) grades and test scores are far more likely to be idiosyncratic and non-generalizable than any standardized tests.'..."
Experts Individuals with PhDs, heads of government, members of federal legislative bodies, and individuals with graduate degrees and significant post-graduate involvement in fields relevant to the study of education. [Note: Experts definition varies by site.]
Involvement and Affiliations:
Testing scholar and economist
Director of Research and Strategic Resources, The Association of Boarding Schools (TABS), Aug. 2011-present
Director of Assessments, DC Public Schools, Feb. 2010-Nov. 2010
Director, Policy Research, ACT, Inc., May 2007-Nov. 2009
Manager of Technical Reports at Pearson Evaluation Systems, 2003-2006
Research Fellow, Educational Testing Service, Sep. 2002-Sep. 2003
Senior Study Director, Westat, Jan. 2000-Aug. 2002
Coordinator, World Education Indicators Programme, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Sep. 1998-Jan. 2000
Senior Research Analyst, American Institutes for Research, Jan. 1993-Nov. 1998
Project Director, GAO (US Government Accountability Office), May 1991-Jan. 1993
Research Associate, Harvard Business School, July 1987-June 1988
Professeur de Mathematiques, Seminaire St. Augustin, Baskoure, Burkina Faso, Sep. 1984-June 1986
Congressional District Coordinator (7th IN) at Bread for the World, 1978-1983
Research & Evaluation Coordinator, Indiana Education Department, Sep. 1978-June 1983
Education:
PhD, Public Policy, Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, 2001
MPP, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, 1987
MA, History, Indiana University Bloomington, 1977
BA, History, Washington University in St. Louis, 1975
Attended Bishop DuBourg High School, St. Louis, MO, 1967-1971
