Any parent or educator knows that rating students and their schools is a big deal. State standards of learning, No Child Left Behind mandates, and independent websites all have their ways of evaluating the nations schools and children. There are some valid reasons behind this. The schools in our country are in sad and sorry shape. Economic status has more impact on a childs future than any other factor. So public school rankings have emerged as part of an overall attempt to identify failing schools and help them improve.
So why are so many teachers and parents up in arms about testing? There are a lot of reasons.
The Inequities of Testing and Public school rankings
The fairness of testing, and ultimately public school rankings, has always been a controversial topic. Advocates claim that its the only way to keep schools accountable; and they say that the students who fail do so because they just arent ready to pass. Opponents of testing based public school rankings say that misses the point completely. If many students arent ready to pass its because their poverty level schools dont give them the skills they need. And they claim that the rankings paint...