[Alkhin]

Test scores don' mean the children are learning...the TAKS has become a numbers game for the administrators to play "who is most popular" with each other. None of the ADMINISTRATORS give a damn about how well the students are doing or whether not the teachers are teaching. Its all about maintaining a certain status.

i really cant see that tying test scores (which are often horribly manipulated) to salaries is going to be a good thing....just another cudgel to bop over the heads of teachers who stumble under the weight of paperwork.

I hate public schools. Administrators need their pockets cleaned out.

[McLynnan]

You're right. Too many teachers are "teaching to the test" under pressure from administration. This goes on in even the best of school districts. I don't have a solution, but we have a big problem. TAKS has been a disaster.

[Sybeck1]

The school my wife teaches 3rd grade has very very high national scores. NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND requires improvement every year, even for the highest percentiles. The school has both a second and a third grade. In order to make it appear that the third grade scores are an improvement over the second grade test score, the principal is advising the second grade teachers NOT to give practice tests. Its a numbers game.