Presents three fictional scenarios each based on very different kinds of facts: the very clear data of test scores, the ambiguous data of behaviors, and the concrete but infinitely interpretable data of portfolios. Notes that the data represented by the portfolio is much more appropriate to assessing language competencies than is data represented…

Considers three possible responses to standardized testing: Ignoring the test, embedding the test, and embracing the test. Concludes that the problem lies not in the tests themselves, but rather in how educators approach them and, more inherently, in what educators believe about them. (SG)

Hopes that all young people in schools might have English classes that teach them spelling, punctuation and correctness but also help them toward the personal discovery of the Word as an instrument of creation, a power that lies within all of them, a power that might save them. (SG)

Offers opposing views on the value of mass testing in English. (JL)

Asks several teachers what they have lost from their teaching or their classroom since the growth in mandated, standardized testing. Considers the ill effects of mandated testing, and names some educational essentials at risk of being lost while testing rules. Discusses what is lost in high-stakes multiple-choice testing of new teachers. (SG)

Presents a fictionalized dialogue loosely based on a meeting attended after writing tests had been piloted. Notes that some details have been added and enhanced to demonstrate the impact that state writing assessments with high stakes can have on classroom content. (SG)

Compares English programs in schools that were "Beating the Odds" (that is, whose students were performing unusually well on locally important tests when compared with students in schools serving similar populations) with English programs whose students were performing more typically. Discusses five features of the successful programs. (SG)