A Book Recommendation

North Olmsted City Schools Superintendent Mike Zalar recently cited a book he is recommending entitled The Pitfalls of Reform:  Its Incompatibility with Actual Improvement by John Tanner.  The core of Tanner’s contention is that standardized tests are not inherently bad, but the function of using them for accountability purposes creates problems that actually force teachers to operate in ways that run counter to the good intentions of policymakers who created our accountability systems.  He says that, ironically, the systemic strategies we have put into place are actually causing achievement gaps to widen and overall learning to decrease.