JS Online: Will testing be right answer for schools?

JS Online: Will testing be right answer for schools?: As federally mandated exams begin, debate heats up"

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel ran an excellent two-part series on students, assessment, and NCLB. Free registration at the paper's website is required to read the articles, but they're worth it. Some highlights:

- The American Educational Research Association estimates that 68 million tests a year will be given nationwide to meet the requirements of the law.

- In Wisconsin alone, the number of students taking the state tests will rise from about 190,000 last year to almost a half million this year.

- Wisconsin paid the private firm that handles the state testing program, CTB/McGraw-Hill, $6.6 million in 2004, and that's only a part of the total testing tab in the state.