Kill the Messenger: The War on Standardized Testing - Hardcover

Phelps, Richard P.

9780765801784: Kill the Messenger: The War on Standardized Testing

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0765801787 ISBN 13: 9780765801784

Publisher: Transaction Pub, 2003

In response to public demand, federal legislation now requires testing of most students in the United States in reading and mathematics in grades three through eight. Many educators, parents, and policymakers who have paid little attention to testing policy issues in the past need to have better information on the topic than has generally been available. Kill the Messenger, now in paperback, fills this gap.

This is perhaps the most thorough and authoritative work in defense of educational testing ever written. Phelps points out that much research conducted by education insiders on the topic is based on ideological preference or profound self-interest. It is not surprising that they arrive at emphatically anti-testing conclusions. Much, if not most, of this hostile research is passed on to the public by journalists as if it were neutral, objective, and independent. Kill the Messenger explains and refutes many of the common criticisms of testing; describes testing opponents' strategies, through case studies of Texas and the SAT; illustrates the profound media bias against testing; acknowledges testing's limitations, and suggests how it can be improved; and finally, outlines the consequences of losing the "war on standardized testing."

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From the Inside Flap:

In response to public demand, new federal legislation now requires testing of most U.S. students, in grades three through eight, in reading and mathematics. In much of the country, this order will promote an increase in the amount of standardized testing. Many educators, parents, and policymakers who have paid little attention to testing policy issues in the past will now be forced to do so. They deserve better information on the topic than has generally been available in the past. Kill the Messenger is intended to fill this gap.

Kill the Messenger is perhaps the most thorough and authoritative work in defense of educational testing ever written. Phelps points out that much research conducted by education insiders on the topic is based on ideological preference or profound self-interest. It is not surprising that they arrive at emphatically anti-testing conclusions. He notes that "external" and "high stakes" testing in particular attracts a cornucopia of invective. This hostile research is passed on to the public by journalists as if it were neutral, objective, and independent.

Kill the Messenger describes the current debate, the players, their interests, and their positions. It explains and refutes many of the common criticisms of testing. It describes testing opponents’ strategies, through case studies of Texas and the SAT. It illustrates the profound media bias against testing. It acknowledges testing’s limitations, and suggests how testing can be improved. It defends testing by comparing it with its alternatives. Finally, the book concludes by outlining the consequences for America of losing the "war on standardized testing."

About the Author:

Richard P. Phelps has devoted most of his working life to the world of education. His research work on testing has been published in Evaluation Review, the Industrial-Organizational Psychologist, and Educational and Psychological Measurement.

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