Arizona is not alone in making adjustments after dramatically low test scores. At least one-third of the 23 states that have mandated high stakes tests are either scaling back or slowing their initial efforts. Among them are California, Maryland, Massachusetts, Delaware, Ohio, Wisconsin, Alaska, and Virginia. Chester Finn monitors school reform and testing nationally as director of the Thomas Fordham Foundation in Washington. So standards are a problem.
Tests are often a problem.
But the big problem is that kids aren't learning enough, and these tests are revealing that fact. But critics are questioning the fairness of some of the tests. Dr. Bob Hess is an expert on testing who helped design the high stakes test in Arizona. He says it was never meant to be used as a way to keep kids from getting a diploma, and he is angry with the way it's been used by state officials. The test was not meant to be punitive.