A proposal by New Mexico's governor to test in all grades was quickly buried by negative reactions from educators and other policymakers, including the state department of education. Several positive trends run counter to the general climate. Most importantly, across the nation classrooms and schools continue to implement improved assessment practices. The higher quality of these assessments, deepening experience in using them, and slowly growing public knowledge about them, all contribute to building a base for sustained reform. For example, the Public Agenda Foundation recently reported that over half of all parents would prefer essay tests, recognizing they provide a route to deeper assessment.
Many states continue to use and improve performance assessment.
Performance tasks are likely to remain part of many state assessments, at least of those that do not have high stakes for individuals. Countering the Wave Still, the rise of regressive testing must not be ignored. It not only is directly harmful to students, it also threatens to wash away many positive changes occurring in classrooms. Teaching to narrow tests does not fit well with instruction and assessment organized to promote reflective thought and develop higher order thinking capabilities and problem solving. The further back reform is pushed, the more ground will have to be recovered when the wave of testing begins to recede.