A Pause in Testing Madness
by pagrundy
This time last year, residents of Charlotte, North Carolina faced a massive expansion of high-stakes standardized testing, aimed at making the students in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools the most tested in the nation.
That spring, students, teachers and parents endured the outbreak of what we soon called “testing madness.” On top of the regular state tests, teachers across Mecklenburg County were required to administer 52 new high-stakes standardized tests, part of superintendent Peter Gorman’s goal of testing every child in every subject every year. The tests were tied to a pay-for-performance scheme that was slated for rapid approval by the state
