"All children can learn" has become a simplistic mantra leading to practices that can be harmful to students and unfair to schools. Unintended consequences include establishing accountability based on state-developed tests, downplaying poor children's need for early intervention, and using punishment to motivate school improvement. (MLH)

Contends that U.S. schools are putting too much time, money, and effort into testing rather than teaching and learning. Predicts that educational assessment will become more performance-based, more closely linked to instruction, and increasingly tied to technology. Offers nine criteria for an effective nationwide assessment system and briefly…