The US isn’t the only place where high stakes testing is controversial. The largest teachers union in England is going to send a ballot to it’s members to see if they support a boycott of "primary school curriculum tests". The tests in "maths" and English are supposed to be given in May to all seven and eleven year olds (who are also tested in science). A survey of members indicated that 82.5% of them would vote to boycott the tests for the younger kids and 71.4% would do the same for the older group. Among other things, the National Teacher’s Union (NUT – I love that acronym!) complains that students in Wales and Scotland (which are part of the United Kingdom) are not required to take the same test.
There are probably better reasons for NUT to boycott these tests and here’s a damn good one:
Teachers and parents were tired of the disruption the tests caused to children’s education.
Tests disrupting education. I wonder where else that might be happening?