We agreed to prepare a statement on this topic and send it to the winners of the presidential, state, and congressional elections. The key message, agreed to by all the participating organizations, is that standards and assessments are important tools in the effort to raise academic achievement. However, in many states, standards and assessments have been implemented poorly. Resources, curriculum alignment, and teacher training have not been provided before a testing program has been put into place. We also agreed that no single test should be used to measure the worth of a student, school, or district.
Parents deserve multiple measures of student and school improvement.
As you can see from all of these LFA initiatives, what began as a collection of separate organizations has grown into a powerful alliance that has brought us all together to work on raising student achievement and to make our schools more collaborative. We have a long way to go to make this a reality at the state level. But we are determined to make it work, and we are in it for the long haul. Copyright 2000, National School Boards Association. This article may be printed out and photocopied for individual or educational use, provided this copyright notice appears on each copy.