No Teacher Left Behind: Supporting Teachers as They Implement Standards-Based Reform in a Test-Based Education Environment

While national professional organizations have masterfully crafted standards in an effort to guide school reform and curriculum, a vast chasm has developed between implementation and assessment. Many of these standards, which are inquiry-based and liberating to teachers and students, are, in actual practice at the state level, neither of these. The culprit, interestingly enough, is woefully inadequate assessment of the goals. Test-based reform is being confused with authentic, standards-based reform. The outcomes of this dysfunction are proving to be debilitating and are leading to increased teacher attrition.