Replace Testing with Portfolios? That'll Be Effective

Effective in hiding discrepancies in learning between schools, that is. This one goes on the same list with fuzzy math and constructivist learning.

To quote Flypaper, "If you think 'adequate yearly progress' is complicated and leads to insane results, wait till you introduce portfolios. With every grader coming up with a different score, you are going to see mass confusion about whether kids are reaching standards or not. (This 2004 Education Next Jay Mathews' article on portfolios is a good primer on the pros and cons of the approach.)"

NCLB testing has created problems, but most of them concern not being able to sweep bad results under the rug any more.