Some Support National Testing Standards
By Jay Mathews, Washington Post Staff Writer
The superintendents of the Washington area’s two largest school systems say national standards are needed to measure achievement among public school students, a sharp contrast to other educators who are asking that the federal government have less involvement in the schools, not more.
The support for national tests from the superintendents in Fairfax and Montgomery counties, as well as the superintendent and School Board of Arlington County, is one of the most surprising messages being sent to Congress by area educators hoping to influence efforts to revise the five-year-old No Child Left Behind law.
…”I’ve never figured out why in the world we wouldn’t have a national education standard,” said Montgomery County School Superintendent Jerry D. Weast. “We have standards for toys and everything else.”
Congress might vote on whether to revise No Child Left Behind this year. With criticism of the law ratcheting up, changes are likely.
Jack D. Dale, superintendent of Fairfax County schools, called the current system “incoherent, contradictory and inconsistent.” Arlington’s School Board, using an argument advanced by Superintendent Robert G. Smith, said No Child Left Behind “provides neither high consistent standards nor consistent measures for accountability.”
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