More Than a Score: The New Uprising Against High-Stakes Testing

by Jesse Hagopian (editor), Alfie Kohn (Afterword), Diane Ravitch (Preface)

The movement against standardized testing that was already growing before the Seattle MAP test boycott, has subsequently exploded across the nation. This past year has had an unprecedented level of activity against high stakes testing mania and FairTest.org predicts that the coming spring will see the biggest movement against standardized testing in U.S. history.This new uprising in school districts around the country to stop the misuse of standardized tests has received quite a bit of national media attention, but will be the first collection of stories authored by many of the leading participants of this movement.Is a way to give voice to activists all over the country who have led walkouts, boycotts and opt-out campaigns in the past year of what Education Week's Anthony Cody has called the Education Spring. It should also serve to inspire other test-resisters.

Genres: Education, Nonfiction, Social Justice, Politics, Essays, Activism, Professional Development

302 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 22, 2014

Reviews

[Randy Allain · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book gave me hope. Over the course of nearly nine years of teaching, I have seen a lot of absurdity and faulty logic at work. I have questioned this logic and been ignored. I have sought equal outrage from my peers – and found many of them resigned to accept poor educational policy and float on with the wave. Too often, I have floated along with the wave as well. I have lost a little more hope for the future of education with each passing year....

More Than a Score taught me that, not only are there are a growing number of people out there fighting those illogical educational policies – but a lot of them are winning. This book will help inspire you to join your voice with countless others and take back public education from selfish businesses and lazy politicians.

I gave More Than a Score five stars, not for the beauty or depth of the writing – but for the power of its message. Everyone should read this book (or at the very least, let me pick out a few pieces from the book for you to read). No, not just everyone who teaches or everyone who is a parent – everyone. Period.

Currently, public education is under assault by business forces openly looking to profit from the world of education. Big business interests see public schools and public school teachers as punching bags who are too worn out to fight back. This book challenges that notion and reminds us that we are all stakeholders in this fight. When access to a free and equitable public education slips away, we all become part of the inaction that reinforces racial & socioeconomic inequalities in all areas of life.

Yes, this text has a clear agenda – but it does not read as propaganda. It is a book written out of love – not hate. In calling out big business, it also reminds educators that they need to work hard and develop the most fruitful assessments for their students. It also reminds teachers, students , and parents to speak up and demand better schools.

See you on the picket line.

[Sonya Edwards · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this book up off the "new" bookshelf and I think that I had a different set of expectations. I've read several books about educational reform and the one thing that most of them have going for them is a clear directive. We believe this, because of that, and here's how we'll get there. Combine it with the all American soundtrack and some Pom pins and you have a euphoric feeling of "we can do it!" (Even if you disagree with the method you can get caught in the fanfare)

All of that was lacking in this counter argument. Several of the first few essays call out several reformers or reforms by name and say "this is bad!", and leave it at that. There's no explanation, no persuasion, no passion. As the essays go in and become more personal, the frustration and hopelessness becomes evident, but there's no real sense of unity or empowerment from the acts of civil disobedience. Which is a sad state indeed. Science is on the side of less testing, more authentic assessments, let the teachers teach and keep the politicians out. But money is on the other side.

Rather than finishing feeling hopeful, I finished the book feeling like Sisyphus.

[Sage Αναστασία · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disclaimer: This anthology was gifted to me by one of its contributors

More Than a Score is an inspiring story of public school educators standing up for themselves and their students. The book is written by teachers that participated in a protest against a particular test that they felt not only took away a significant amount of learning time from their students, but also was being unfairly used by administration to assess them as educators. While there was no particularly gripping moment for me while reading this book, I thoroughly enjoyed it and certainly learned a lot. I would recommend this book to educators yearning to break the mold of our education system.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd give it a 3.5 if I could. It was inspiring to read so many stories from a variety of people fighting standardized testing. It became a little bit repetitive at times, but it was a thoroughly informative read.

[Pat Cummings · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good interview with the author on Coming From Left Field podcast, June, 2024:
https://youtu.be/AxkgTjYab30

href="https://youtu.be/AxkgTjYab30">...

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

good sampling of teacher, student, parent perspectives from the anti-standarized-test revolution. Got a little repetitive in that many of the chapters are very similar, varying only in locale ("so i called a meeting of all the teachers, and some were afraid of the repercussions, but finally we all agreed to boycott the test....").

would like to see a balanced, constructive analysis of the various alternatives -- "portfolios" get a lot of lip service in this sort of discussion, but if they actually started to count for anything I imagine all the same arguments would arise. The sneering about "bubble tests" would have to be modified, but no doubt group differences could be still be shown, and teachers whose kids fared badly would still point to their impoverished backgrounds rather than poor teaching as the real reason, and schools would still devote ungodly amounts of time to portfolio-polishing skilz rather than real education and...

Nobel prize to the person who figures out the equivalent of a valid "pop quiz" for students, teachers, and schools -- a nonreactive assessment that fosters accountability without becoming the be-all/end-all that distorts the school year.

For college teachers student evaluations play much the same role, though sufficiently far removed from state legislatures, funding, and parent involvement that they get a lot less publicity. Snarky critiques of the validity of student evals exceed detailed constructive analysis of alternatives by a factor of at least 10.

anyway, as to the book rather than the backlash vs. standardized tests......pretty good, lively, could have used at least a couple representatives of the other side, or someone familiar with what happens when there really is a bad union-protected teacher and no data-based accountability.

[Nativida · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you haven't already versed yourself in the ramifications of all the tests our current students are enduring, this is a book you need to read. Essays from teachers, parents, students, and administrators will bring you up to speed (noticeably absent, Pres Obama, Michele Rhee and Texas Gov Perry, but wait! their kids don't attend public school, oh yeah.) These tests trace back to the beginning of eugenics, help fuel the school to prison pipeline, benefit no one but corporations and politicians. If you are a parent of school aged children, be brave, stand up and say no to these tests. Reinstate play, curiosity, and the kind of education all of our children deserve. Instead, have conversations with your child's teacher/s, and if fear is not a factor, let them share with you what they observe of your child as a learner.

[Algernon · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I write this comment, here in New Mexico there are students and parents taking to the streets to protest PARCC testing. One father of my acquaintance has even discovered that the letters in that acronym can be rearranged into a noun that bluntly represents what he thinks of the intrusive regime of frequent, high-stakes testing that disrupts and distorts public education and asserts the values of corporate profit and management style in an inappropriate sphere.

This book gathers interviews and written testimony by teachers, students, and parents who pioneered such resistance; it steers the reader to resources and community. Most importantly, it testifies to the resisters of the neoliberal assault on education that they are not alone.

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection of essays on the damage high-stakes standardized testing is doing to public education is enlightening in that it provides a lot of individual perspectives from the parents, students, teachers, administrators and other activists who are fighting against this movement. For someone interested in joining the cause, there are some resources mentioned here as well as lots of inspiration. However, you won't find any unbiased, neutral information here about this issue, and the writing quality is pretty uneven. Still, this is a good read for people who are involved with public education, and a fairly good starting point for finding out more.

[George Woodliff-Stanley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic, compelling, and important collection of stories and experiences in the movement against the high-stakes standardized testing and other harmful neoliberal education reforms going on in the United States right now.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of the voices were redundant but the fact that the reader could hear views from teachers, parents, students and administrators made the book much more well-rounded and easy to read than other similar ones. Highly recommended to anyone considering protesting these "high stakes tests."

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for all teachers, prospective teachers, administrators, school board members, teacher prep professors, politicians, and parents. Do you want a more effective educational system in our country? Here is where the conversation begins.

[Elaine]

I just couldn't get into this. The descriptions I read seemed so promising, but skimming through, I just never got around to reading the whole thing.

[Kevin Larose · Rating 5 out of 5]

The fixation on standardized testing is wrong-headed and downright dangerous. This book shows why this is extremely well.

[Mary Foxe · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF. Same stuff I have been hearing for awhile. If you don't know about the resistance to high-stakes testing, this would be for you.