PENCILS DOWN!
USING THE WEB TO ORGANIZE AGAINST STANDARDIZED TESTING
last updated 9/19/01

Linda Polin, linda@pencilsdown.org
Gary Stager, gary@pencilsdown.org

Pencilsdown.org has been featured in following recent articles...
Education Week • September 19, 2001 - Districts Beginning to Scale Back On Tests to Lighten School Burden
Lycos and WiReDNews • August 27, 2001 - The Over-testing of America?

Data Resources

Survey results from a variety of polling agencies:

Public Agenda, Phi Delta Kappan/Gallup, The Business Roundtable, American Association of School Administrators, Harris Interactive
http://www.ecs.org/clearinghouse/16/21/1621.htm

Legal Cases on High Stakes Testing

Shelley Mack, UC Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law, Spring 2000
http://www.law.berkeley.edu/faculty/sugarmans/HighStakes.htm

Organizations Online

NEA    http://www.nea.org/issues/high-stakes/

FairTest   http://www.fairtest.org

Rethinking Schools      www.rethinkingschools.org

Mathematically Sane   http://www.mathematicallysane.com/analysis/highstakes.htm

NCTE   http://www.ncte.org/resolutions/highstakes1999.html

Alfie Kohn       http://www.alfiekohn.org/standards/standards.htm

EdSource        http://www.edsource.org/

Rouge Forum   http://www.pipeline.com/~rgibson/rouge_forum/

CalCare           http://www.calcare.org/

Canadian Teachers Org.    http://www.ctf-fce.ca/e/what/other/assessment/high-stakes.htm

Signatures for Students          http://www.xsnrg.com/sfs/

Florida Coalition for Assessment Reform. http://www.angelfire.com/fl4/fcar

AZ Standards (Arizona)         http://www.azstandards.org/

North Carolina Citizens for Democratic Schools         http://www.geocities.com/nccds/

TASI (Illinois)               http://www.district87.org/staff/goerlitzd/tasisat/about.htm

Student Coalition for Alternatives to the MCAS          http://www.scam-mcas.org/

MassParents Page      http://www.massparents.org/

Parents Against TAAS Testing           http://www.TaasBlues.com/

Documents Online

Exam Anxiety (a terrific commentary challenging the Bush testing scheme)
Teacher Magazine, August, 2001.
http://www.edweek.com/tm/tmstory.cfm?slug=01persp.h13

News Interview: Lorrie Shepard. How to Fight a "Death Star"
NEA Today Online, January, 2001.
http://www.nea.org/neatoday/0101/intervw.html

 

What Can Student Drawings Tell Us About High-Stakes Testing in Massachusetts?
Anne Wheelock, Damian Bebell, and Walt Haney
http://wwwcsteep.bc.edu/drawoned/mcas/mcaspaper.html

 

How Wisconsin Parents Worked to Roll Back High Stakes Testing
FairTest Examiner, Summer 1999, pp. 10-11
http://www.alfiekohn.org/standards/wisconsin.htm

 

The Harmful Impact of the TAAS System of Testing in Texas: Beneath the Accountability Rhetoric.
Linda McNeil & Angela Valenzuela
http://www.law.harvard.edu/civilrights/conferences/testing98/drafts/mcneil_valenzuela.html

 

"High Stakes Tests: A Harsh Agenda for America's Children"
Remarks Prepared for U.S. Senator Paul D. Wellstone
Teachers College, Columbia University, March 31, 2000
http://www.senate.gov/~wellstone/On_the_Record/Speeches_Articles/columbia.htm

 

The Scarsdale, NY Revolt
http://www.dekalb.k12.ga.us/~vanderlyn/2000/news.standardized-tests.htm#2001-05-12

 

The Marin, CA Revolt
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2001/05/04/MN231705.DTL
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2001/04/29/MN209398.DTL

 

Greely, Colorado teacher refuses to administer standardized tests
http://www.alfiekohn.org/standards/boycotter.htm

 

High-Stakes Testing: Is it fair to students?
Ted Villaire, staff writer
Our Children, The National PTA Magazine
http://www.pta.org/pubs/featured/f5.htm

Recommended Books
Click HERE to go to our more extensive bookstore

Rethinking Schools, Failing Our Kids: Why the Testing Craze Won't Fix Our Schools. Rethinking Schools: Milwaukee, WI, 2000. ISBN 0-942961-26-9

W. James Popham, Testing! Testing! What Every Parent Should Know About School Tests. Allyn & Bacon: Boston, 2000. ISBN 0-205-30595-4

National Research Council, High Stakes: Testing for Tracking, Promotion, and Graduation. National Academy Press: Washington DC, 1999. ISBN 0-309-06280-2

Deborah Meier (editor), Will Standards Save Public Education? Beacon Press: Boston, 2000.ISBN 0-8070-0441-3

Alfie Kohn, The Case Against Standardized Testing: Raising the Scores, Ruining the Schools. Heinemann: Portsmouth. 2000. ISBN: 0325003254

Linda McNeil, Contradictions of School Reform : Educational Costs of Standardized Testing (Critical Social Thought). Routledge, 2000.  ISBN: 0415920744

Susan Ohanian, One Size Fits Few : The Folly of Educational Standards.Portsmouth: Heinemann: Portsmouth, 1999. ISBN: 0325001588