“Sometimes, the most brilliant and intelligent minds do not shine in standardized test because they do not have standardized minds,” writes Diane Ravitch.

Ravitch is the Founder and President of the Network for Public Education (NPE), and the author of The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education. 

Ravitch used to support standardized testing, but changed her mind based on the evidence. Here are some of the things she’s said:

“Anyone who truly cares about children must be repelled by the insistence on ranking them, rating them, and labeling them. Whatever the tests measure is not the sum and substance of any child.”

 “The tests do not measure character, spirit, heart, soul, potential. When overused and misused, when attached to high stakes, the tests stifle the very creativity and ingenuity that our society needs most. Creativity and ingenuity stubbornly resist standardization. Tests should be used sparingly to help students and teachers, not to allocate rewards and punishments and not to label children and adults by their scores.”

NPE has 350,000 followers and is the single largest organization of parents and teachers and other citizens working to stop the privatization of public education and the misuse of standardized testing. Its goal is OK to preserve, protect, and improve public schools.

“Standardized testing is not the answer to our education problems, it is a colonial tool created out of racist and biased tactics,” says Wilhelmina Yazzie. “It’s not our children failing these tests, it’s the tests failing our children.”

Yazzie is a Diné woman from Tséta’ Tóak’oolí (Casamero Lake, New Mexico). She made national news for advocating for her son, Xavier Nezbeing, as part of the Yazzie/Martinez lawsuit against the State of New Mexico in 2018. The lawsuit found that the State’s Public Education Department lacked support for low-income students, Native American students, English Language Learners, and students with disabilities. Since the lawsuit, Yazzie has continued to fight for more equitable education for Native American and New Mexican children. In 2022, she was named Woman of the Year by USA Today for her advocacy. 

Recently, Yazzie said the following about standardized testing: 

“In our Indigenous ways, our children’s achievement is about so much more than test scores. Our children are gifted in different ways with different cultural backgrounds. We need to start measuring what truly matters, the development of our children through their cultural backgrounds first. It is imperative that our schools incorporate culturally and linguistically responsive teaching and learning. If we are to focus on testing, it should be an authentic assessment of achievement that highlights student and community voices in a holistic approach.”

“Our 20-plus-year obsession with standardization and comparability has hindered efforts to create more equitable school systems and learning opportunities for students,” writes Scott Marion. “It is time for a new approach.”

Marion is a national leader in designing innovative and comprehensive assessment systems to support both instructional and accountability uses. He is the Executive Director of The National Center for the Improvement of Educational Assessment and coordinates and/or serves on five district state Technical Advisory Committees for assessment, accountability and educator evaluation.

Marion has been critical of standardized testing for many years. Here are some things he’s said in a recent article for NCIEA.

“Most people agree that the factory model of education doesn’t work. If we don’t want students learning the same knowledge and skills at the same time, as if they’re on one big conveyor belt, why would we require all the adults in K-12 education to use essentially the same accountability (or assessment) system?”

“We need to let states, districts, and schools create systems that hold them accountable for the distinctly different work each one does. We also need systems that recognize that states and districts are not interchangeable; each operates in a unique context.”

“Because Capstone Projects rely on research and evidence-based development, the students have a greater opportunity to express thoughts through their classroom learning as well as identifying community issues to address,” says Jermone Haskie.

Haskie is an enrolled member of the Zuni Tribe of Indians from northwest New Mexico. He is married with two children and one grandchild. Mr. Haskie worked for the Pueblo of Zuni Fire Department attaining the rank of Chief until he was named as the Director of Public Safety. He retired from the Pueblo of Zuni after 27 years of service in 2005. Mr. Haskie has been a member of the Zuni Public School District Board of Education for the past 7 years. He currently serves as the President of the Board. 

Mr. Haskie is a staunch supporter of youth academic achievement, athletic excellence and career readiness for students in the Pueblo of Zuni. 

As President of the Zuni Public School District’s Board of Education, Haskie has overseen a lot of changes in approaches to assessment. When asked what he thought of standardized testing versus other methods, here’s what he had to say:

“However, applying [standardized test] metrics to new educational programs can do more harm than good,” says Thomas Arnettt. “By holding these programs to the same standards, we risk pushing them towards the same conventional outcomes.” 

Arnett is a senior research fellow for the Clayton Christensen Institute. His work focuses on using the Theory of Disruptive Innovation to study innovative instructional models and their potential to scale student-centered learning in K-12 education. He also studies demand for innovative resources and practices across the K-12 education system using the Jobs to Be Done Theory.

In a recent article published by the Christensen Institute, Arnett discussed how many unconventional approaches to education are still being assessed conventional ways—and why that doesn’t work:

“Most new educational programs are not just seeking to ‘do school’ better—they are trying to ‘do school’ differently. Some exist to serve students who have struggled in conventional settings—such as students who have felt lost or ostracized in larger school settings or students whose dispositions clashed with the discipline of classroom- and text-based instruction. Others focus on giving students and families distinctive experiences that aren’t available in most conventional settings—such as project-based learning, self-directed learning, culturally-affirming learning, or the flexibility to pursue interests beyond academics. To succeed at what they’re trying to do, these programs need value network partners that align with their unique aims.”

“Educators know standardized tests narrow the curriculum,” says Beck Pringle. “We know they limit our ability to accurately assess comprehensive student learning, and they only examine proficiency in distinct content area standards.” 

Pringle is president of the National Education Association, the nation’s largest labor union. Becky is a middle school science teacher with more than three decades of classroom experience and has distinguished herself as a fierce social justice warrior and defender of educator rights. When we asked her what she thought about standardized testing and capstones, this is what she had to say:

“As president of the National Education Association, and as an educator with more than three decades of experience, I am thrilled by the state of New Mexico’s support of high-quality capstones. Grounded in cultural and community values, these authentic assessments set the stage for students and educators to become partners exploring critical issues through the lens of their lived experiences.”

“These capstone projects represent the future of assessment. Through presentations and exhibits, students are able to provide tangible evidence of their accomplishments, and their work is seen by the ecosystem that supports them: families, business owners, school leaders, community organizations, and more. No standardized test does that. Above all, capstone projects create a learning environment that leads the way toward the deep knowledge and critical, universal skills they all need to step fully into their brilliance.”