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National Standards and Testing: Will the Bush Education Plan Work?

POLICY FORUM
Thursday, April 26, 2001
11:00 a.m.

Featuring Kent Talbert, Professional Staff, House Committee on Education and the Workforce; Alfie Kohn, Author, The Case Against Standardized Testing: Raising the Scores, Ruining the Schools; Eugene W. Hickok, Former Pennsylvania Secretary of Education; and Sheldon Richman, Editor, Ideas on Liberty and author of "Parent Power: Why National Standards Won't Improve Public Education," to be released April 26 by the Cato Institute.

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The White House proposal for education would require states to set standards in reading, math, science, and history, and to test all children in grades 3 to 8. Is this a proper role for the federal government? Will more tests encourage student achievement and make schools accountable for student progress? Or will more standardized testing result in superficial thinking and a narrowing of curriculum? Could a national exam lead to a national curriculum? What other meaningful measures of student learning are available?

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