Let the Testing Begin

• For a generation, the country has pursued an aggressive program to raise standards and improve achievement. . In 1983, a Reagan administration task force declared A Nation at Risk. It decried a “rising tide of mediocrity” and proposed “rigorous and measurable standards,” stronger graduation requirements, and standardized tests “at major transition points.” States followed suit by expanding testing program and raising graduation requirements. In 1994, the Clinton administration passed the Improving America’s Schools Act, requiring states to develop standards, test students annually, and report data by race. It was this act that introduced the much-criticized adequate yearly progress benchmark.

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