What is new is that educators can be fired and schools can face a state takeover. Still, standardized tests are a necessary tool in American education. And the best are those that assess students' mastery of basic skills and of the material taught in schools. The best coordinates with the curriculum so schoolwork and test prep are the same. The best ensure that our schools teach and our students learn.
Students deserve better opportunities in a world that changes too often, too quickly.
They deserve educational uniformity in the global community we created for them. So, if the main purpose of our American education is to bring us together with a set of common skills, common experiences and common values and schools, then we should do this for as many people as possible.