To be sure, this was not a sudden madness. In the 1970 s and early 1980 s, some 35 states had adopted some version of a Minimum Competency Test to assure that high school diplomas were not based on so-called social promotion, seat time, or both. The new illness, though, was more virulent. When Bacon penned his article, all but one state had adopted or created standards for public school students and 41 had adopted or constructed tests for measuring and passing judgment on student performance. Students now are more at risk of not graduating than in the era of Minimum Competency Testing because the tests are tougher or the scores needed to pass are unrealistically high.
Proposals exist to start testing students in kindergarten.
Teachers are warned that their raises, bonuses or even their jobs are on the line. Principals and superintendents suffer similar threats. While the emphasis has been on the negative, on rarer occasions, the bonuses of teachers, principals and superintendents are tied to specific test score gains. Whereas tests were once used largely as monitoring devices, they now have enormous consequences for many people. The short answer to the first question is, A loss of trust in teachers and administrators.