Standardized Minds is a must read for anyone who cares about public schools. Peter Sacks forcefully argues that the continued misuse of standardized tests is doing serious harm to American school children.
Sacks places America's testing obsession within a historical and political context.
He demonstrates that scare rhetoric has always been a mainstay of the testing movement. It deflects the public's attention from addressing real problems such as underserved school districts and racial tracking. At the same time the testing industry reaps great profits cranking out exams of little educational value. It is refreshing to read an author who includes more than a passing nod to alternative forms of assessment. Sacks maintains that we already have alternative models of assessment that are equitable and rigorous.