Cam Ward

You know that is a good question. I think it is probably the same question being debated about education policy all over the country right now. I think the intent of No Child Left Behind was good-- I mean everyone wants to make the education system better. I am just not convinced that every education can be measured on a yard stick. Testing is good but there are some intangibles that cannot be determined by testing. It seems to me that testing is a good measure, to a point. I think the current system places way too much emphasis on testing a barometer of success. We should spend less time teaching to the test and more time teaching standard comprehension that cannot be evaluated in a testing environment. The entire emphasis of No Child Left Behind was to make sure poorly performing schools were made to perform better and those schools doing well were rewarded. It seems to me that the competition to score the highest has led to the entire emphasis of education to be focused on how to take these tests. I don't think we should completely do away with standardized testing but I do believe that it should not be the primary focus of the system. I am still uncertain though as to how we have a better evaluation system for which schools are doing well and which ones are not.