In the twenty-first century, the use of standardized tests as the primary means to evaluate schools and teachers in the United States has contributed to severe dilemmas, including misleading information on what students know, lower-level instruction, cheating, less collaboration, unfair treatment of teachers, and biased teaching. This article…

One of the many consequences of a neoliberal, high-stakes policy in No Child Left Behind has been that teachers and administrators have resorted to the systematic removal of vulnerable student groups, such as Latina/o English language learners. This process has dehumanized these students and commodified aspects of their identity, such as language,…

Curriculum alignment, which links instructional content to state-designed tests, is destigmatizing "teaching to the test." Ignoring this linkage can have painful consequences. Substandard school performance can cause Texas principals to lose their jobs and Maryland schools to forfeit substantial monetary rewards. Indianapolis schools try…