Synopses & Reviews
Review
". . .a humorous yet sobering glimpse at the testing arena--a must-read for policymakers and pundits enchanted by high-stakes tests."
-- Dennis Van Roekel, President, National Education Association
"This revealing account is full of dark humor and asks many disturbing questions that will rouse debate among educators and concerned general readers."
-- Karl Helicher, September/October 2009, Foreword
"Todd Farley has a new book: It was an intriguing read..."
-- Jay Mathews, The Washington Post
Synopsis
The No Child Left Behind Act uses the phrase scientifically-based research more than 100 times when discussing standardized testing, but Making the Grades raises serious questions about the validity of many large-scale assessments simply by describing one man's career in the industry. This first-hand account of life in the testing business is alternately edifying and hilarious.
Synopsis
In this alternately amusing and appalling expose of the standardized test industry, fifteen-year veteran Todd Farley describes statisticians who make decisions about students without even looking at their test answers; state education officials willing to change the way tests are scored whenever they don't like the results; and massive, multi-national, for-profit testing companies who regularly opt for expediency and profit over the altruistic educational goals of teaching and learning. Although there are absurd moments--as when Farley and coworkers had to grade students based on how they described the taste of their favorite food-- the enormous importance of standardized tests in the post "No Child Left Behind" era make this no laughing matter.
"This book is dynamite The nice personal voice makes it utterly accessible and enticing, wholly apart from the terribly important ammunition it provides to those of us in the testing wars' at national and local levels."--Jonathan Kozol, author of Savage Inequities
About the Author
For 15 years, Todd Farley worked for many of the biggest testing companies and on some of the most important standardized education tests at the national, state, and local levels. He has written and scored tests in a variety of subject areas.