He made principals accountable for test scores and tried to make it easier to sack bad teachers.
Some found that art, music, history and other classes were being taught less frequently as schools focused on reading and math, since the federal No Child Left Behind law holds schools accountable for test results in only those subjects.
For example, if you want to see students engaged, motivated, and curious — these were among my most important criteria when I evaluated classes for my own children — holding people accountable for test scores won't get you this.
That system for holding schools accountable for test scores has encouraged states to lower standards, teachers to focus on test preparation, and math and reading to crowd out history, art and foreign languages.
The theory behind the No Child Left Behind Act was that holding schools accountable for test scores would force them to improve instruction for groups of children whom they had historically shortchanged.
His advice, it appears, is to decentralize authority to each school and hold principals and teachers accountable for test scores.
Blame will be repeatedly cast regarding the inevitable testing glitches and disputes over holding students accountable for tests given in the middle of those fiascoes.
Holding teachers personally and exclusively accountable for test scores -- a key feature of Race to the Top -- will make this situation even worse.
If the pressure for high test scores and the insane notion that "we" should hold teachers accountable for test scores continue to drive policy discussions concerning teacher effectiveness, the most valuable experiences associated with learning will be dismissed.
Even the reformers who insist that "teacher quality" must drive school improvement should now wish that the billions of dollars used for computer systems to keep score so that teachers could be held accountable for test score increases was invested in National Board Certification.
Conservatives and liberals will both enjoy the way that Chris Christie and Jeb Bush twist and turn as they respond to being held accountable for their testing obsession.
