Fair and Open Testing

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) era has seen an unprecedented expansion of standardized testing and test misuse. Despite ample evidence of the flaws, biases and inaccuracies of standardized exams, schools are being pressured to use tests to measure student learning, achievement gaps, and teacher and school quality, and to impose sanctions based on test scores. Is there a better alternative? We'll discuss the topic with Robert Schaeffer, Public Education Director of FairTest, the National Center for Fair & Open Testing, and Dr. Kimberlee B. Pierre, Director of Learning, Testing and Assessments for the Uniondale Public Schools in New York.

Episode Segments:

Educviii: Robert Schaeffer & FairTest
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Educviii: Dr. Kimberlee B. Pierre
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Guest(s) Appearing on this Episode

Robert A. Schaeffer Robert A. (Bob) Schaeffer has served as Public Education Director of FairTest, the National Center for Fair & Open Testing, since its founding in 1985, and is a member of its Board of Directors. Previously, he was Editorial Writer at the NBC-TV affiliate in Boston, Research Director of the Massachusetts Legislature's Joint Committee on Human Services and Elderly Affairs, and worked for several years as a research associate at the Education Research Center of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he was both an undergraduate and graduate student. He is author of Standardized Tests and Teacher Competence (School Voices, Fall, 1996) and coauthor of Standing Up to the SAT (ARCO/Simon & Schuster, 1989). He has also coauthored many FairTest publications, including Testing Our Children: A Report Card on State Assessment Systems, Standardized Tests and Our Children: A Guide to Testing Reform, Implementing Performance Assessments, The SAT Coaching Cover-Up, Test Scores Do Not Equal Merit, and Sex Bias in College Admissions Tests: How Women Lose Out. The National Center for Fair & Open Testing