Who Really Benefits from Standardized Tests?

October 5, 11:44 AMNY Education ExaminerLorri Giovinco-Harte

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The debate over standardized testing has been raging for some time in our country. Some see testing as a way to measure student productivity and to promote accountability for teachers. Detractors of standardized testing cite the inability of formal tests to measure student progress and express fear that school curriculum becomes watered down and results in an overemphasis on test preparation.

Most recently, UFT President Randi Weingarten and Schools Chancellor Joel Klein, have announced that they have reached an agreement on how data from standardized tests will be used in measuring school and teacher progress.

Although standardized testing is by no means a new subject, it has gained attention and focus as a result of the No Child Left Behind legislation. Signed into effect by President George W. Bush, NCLB calls for annual testing of students in reading and math.

Former Education Secretary Rod Paige remarked:

 "Under this historic law, schools must measure and report on overall student performance and the achievement of various groups of students. With this level of diagnosis and the valuable information state and local leaders, parents and others will soon have, we can all work together to ensure that all students succeed and that the achievement gap is closed, once and for all."

On the surface, it would seem that NCLB does seem to provide valuable opportunities for stakeholders of education to gage student progress, yet there is one group in particular who seems to be gaining an enormous amount from the legislation; educational testing companies.

The following is from Frontline, an on-line report from PBS.org:

When Congress increased this year's budget for the Department of Education by $11 billion, it set aside $400 million to help states develop and administer the tests that the No Child Left Behind Act mandated for children in grades 3 through 8. Among the likely benefactors of the extra funds were the four companies that dominate the testing market -- three test publishers and one scoring firm.

Those four companies are Harcourt Educational Measurement, CTB McGraw-Hill, Riverside Publishing (a Houghton Mifflin company), and NCS Pearson. {}Harcourt, CTB McGraw-Hill, and Riverside Publishing write 96 percent of the exams administered at the state level. NCS Pearson, meanwhile, is the leading scorer of standardized tests.

The report continues to explain that:

Even without the impetus of the No Child Left Behind Act, testing is a burgeoning industry. The National Board on Educational Testing and Public Policy at Boston College compiled data from The Bowker Annual, a compendium of the dollar-volume in test sales each year, and reported that while test sales in 1955 were $7 million (adjusted to 1998 dollars), that figure was $263 million in 1997, an increase of more than 3,000 percent. Today, press reports put the value of the testing market anywhere from $400 million to $700 million.

Among the companies mentioned by Frontline, CTB McGraw Hill is a company who has a very strong relationship with New York Schools. New York City Schools have adopted ACUITY tests, which are supplied by the publisher. Everyday Mathematics, a program which has been adopted in New York City schools is also published by McGraw Hill, as are the standardized mathematic tests used by the city.

McGraw Hill's influence is so strong in New York, that a former New York State Department of Education Regent served dual roles as State Regent and Vice President of research and development at the McGraw-Hill Companies.

Yet, the relationship with the publishing giant goes even further than New York.

Stephen Metcalf, reporter for The Nation, discusses the relationship between the Bush administration and the publisher in an essay entitled, Reading Between the Lines. Metcalf describes this relationship as “three-generation social mingling” which can be seen in the following situations:

Harold McGraw Jr. sits on the national grant advisory and founding board of the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy.

McGraw in turn received the highest literacy award from President Bush in the early 1990s, for his contributions to the cause of literacy.

The McGraw Foundation awarded current Bush Education Secretary Rod Paige its highest educator’s award while Paige was Houston’s school chief; Paige, in turn, was the keynote speaker at McGraw-Hill’s “government initiatives” conference last spring.

Harold McGraw III was selected as a member of President George W. Bush’s transition advisory team, along with McGraw-Hill board member Edward Rust Jr., the CEO of State Farm and an active member of the Business Roundtable on educational issues.

An ex-chief of staff for Barbara Bush is returning to work for Laura Bush in the White House–after a stint with McGraw-Hill as a media relations executive

John Negroponte left his position as McGraw-Hill’s executive vice president for global markets to become Bush’s ambassador to the United Nations.

So, while the debates rage over the merits of standardized testing, we need to ask ourselves; who is really benefiting?