I believe it's the cornerstone of reform. I believe it's the essence of excellence in education. And I believe it's important to do so, to test every year, to make sure children are not left behind. I worry about a system that periodically tests, because one year, you may test and everything is fine. In four years, you measure again, and all of a sudden something isn't fine, and you've missed four years of opportunity to make sure a child doesn't slip behind.
Accountability is important for students.
And my answer was, well, I'm sorry you're sick of it, but we want to know. We, the adults, want to know whether or not you're learning, because if you're not, we expect something else to happen. So it's important for children to take tests so they can tell how they stand. It's important for parents. There's a lot of discussion about parental involvement.