Comments on "'Lake Woebegone,' Twenty Years Later"

J. J. Cannell’s article on the so-called “Lake Woebegone” effect for K-12 educational testing systems is mostly an historical account of technical issues and policy considerations that led in part to development of new types of test instruments for K-12 testing, i.e., standards-based tests. However, the article also comments on current testing practices, and charges that some of the technical issues and policy considerations that led to the Lake Woebegone effect are still in place. In particular, the Cannell article focuses on the California Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) program in recent years (pp 8-11 of the article).