The Century Foundation Publications: Raising Standards or Raising Barriers?

Raising Standards or Raising Barriers?
Inequality and High Stakes Testing in Public Education

Gary Orfield, Mindy L. Kornhaber, Century Foundation Press, 4/15/2001

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More and more states require students to pass large-scale tests as a condition of promotion or graduation. What are the forces that have pushed high-stakes testing to the forefront of K-12 educational policy? Are such tests the best way to gauge educational attainment? This report makes clear that high-stakes tests, even when appropriately used, are not sufficient to promote strong schools. The benefits of such tests are assumed, and the costs—in terms of money, instructional time, curricula, retention, and dropping out—are ignored. This volume, commissioned by the Civil Rights Project at Harvard University, examines the economic and educational assumptions underlying the call for high-stakes tests and makes recommendations on how to recognize and address the limits of test-driven reforms.

Edition: Cloth ISBN: 087078451X Pages: 250
Price: $24.95

The Century Foundation conducts public policy research and analyses of economic, social, and foreign policy issues, including inequality, retirement security, election reform, media studies, homeland security, and international affairs. The foundation produces books, reports, and other publications, convenes task forces, and working groups and operates eight informational Web sites. With offices in New York City and Washington, D.C., The Century Foundation is nonprofit and nonpartisan and was founded in 1919 by Edward A. Filene.