As an educator, I'm very much interested in various initiatives that might improve student learning. This move to testing is a far cry from true "standards" based education as opposed to mere "norm" based testing. In effect, these various initiatives currently being implemented are nothing more than norm-based, with the following implicit assumptions: 1) There's a particular content of course material that is more important than the ability to problem-solve and transfer learning skills to any situation that a student might encounter. 2) All students learn at the same rate. 3) All educational institutions have the same economic resources to draw from.

A truly 'standards' based education would not neglect the ability to acquire skills of problem solving. Nor would such an education assume that all students are similarly situated in terms of ability or economic advantage.

Further, the 'au courant' suggestion that education is like 'business' might work, if the business of education was truly to have students engage with the process of learning rather than with politically and educationally impotent pseudo models of 'teaching' at its worst.

Susan Martinelli
macomb, illinois

Dear FRONTLINE,

As someone who has taught everyone from adult ESL students from a wide range of countries to children in failing schools and who has been an educational consultant working with teachers in New York City public schools for a number of years, I see no benefit whatsover to increasing the number of tests that students are required to take. What I do see is young teachers leaving teaching because of the pressures put on them to get their kids to perform or else risk losing their jobs and students of all ages becoming physically sick prior to taking the state tests because they feel their entire futures depend on the results of these exams. Are the kids learning more because there are more tests? clearly not. Are the teachers working harder at making sure each child learns what s/he needs to know? clearly not. There is no time for teaching; there is only time for test prep.

Judith Gilbert
new york, new york

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