An editorial from The Journal
MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — Arguments against standardized testing have been shouted by teachers unions and their legislative cohorts for years. A few of their points carry some weight. But in all that noise, there has been very little in the way of viable alternatives to the dreaded tests.
When Christine Campbell, president of the West Virginia branch of the American Federation of Teachers, spoke in Charleston recently, she repeated the complaint that “as time has gone on, we have put more burdens on our teachers to test kids, rather than to educate them.”
Well, to be fair, teachers are generally expected to educate students. One way of measuring the success of that education is to examine the results of tests such as the West Virginia Education Standards Test for students in third through 11th grades.
There must be some way to measure students’ progress, and to hold teachers accountable…