** “Critics wondered how a competition among states–which would create winners and losers–could create educational equity (given that winners were chosen by how slavishly they bowed to the Education Department’s reform tastes, and that the Gates Foundation spent millions of dollars helping states write contest entries). There were also questions about how ‘educational equity’ could be achieved when there wasn’t any effort to try to ameliorate the problems that students bring into schools from beyond the school walls but that nevertheless greatly impact how well they do in class. Or to change the school funding system in the United States, which is largely depending on property taxes, ensuring that poor communities have schools with fewer resources than rich ones.” ~ Valerie Strauss, Washington Post

** “If we teach reading, writing, subtraction, and addition before children are ready, they might memorize these skills, but they will not learn them. And it will not help their achievement later on. Child development experts understand that children must learn what their brains are ready to absorb. Kindergarten is supposed to set the stage for learning academic content when they are older. If they are going to push our kindergarten children to move faster, what does that say for the push for ‘educating’ Pre-K?” ~ Wendy Lecker, Hearst Connecticut Media Group

** “At prestigious schools, the majority of students come from strong backgrounds and will do well even without the [Common] core, but that is not the reality for all students. The core curriculum makes sure that all students develop the skills they need to be successful.” ~ Michael Poliakoff, American Council of Trustees and Alumni

** “Although the research community is making progress on assessment of both student learning and teacher performance, significant scientific challenges remain in creating valid and reliable measures that can control extraneous influences and minimize random error. Nevertheless, it is now possible to utilize results of student test scores, expert observation of teaching, teacher self-reflection, student-teacher evaluations, work products of students and teachers, and other indicators to address specific questions on teacher effectiveness. As the reliability and validity of such assessment systems improve, it should be possible to link aggregated results to the programs that prepare teachers.” ~ Gerardo M. Gonzalez, dean of education, Indiana University Bloomington

** “Riding what they see as a wave of anti-testing sentiment among parents, opponents of high-stakes assessments believe a strategy known as opt-out–having parents refuse to let their children take state-mandated tests–could force policymakers to take note of their cause.” ~ Karla Scoon Reid, Education Week