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When Readington Township schools plunked down $48,000.00 in funds for three new suites of standardized testing from CTB/McGraw Hill this school year, parents were stunned. Like other NJ districts, Readington already gives state-mandated tests in in third, fourth, and eighth grade.  Plus, our district has portfolio assessments, scoring rubrics for literacy and math, criterion-referenced tests and quizzes, individualized observations by teachers and parents who pay attention to their child's needs.

Parents who make the effort to connect with their child's teacher and who make it their goal to completely understand the academic status of their child feel that the Terra Nova, InView and I-Know tests are at best superfluous and at worst... well, that is where the controversy starts.

There are lists of reasons why such testing is potentially harmful. While the true believers in such approaches may also have their reasons for supporting additional testing, many parents find the testing to be stressful on young children, and to be a poor method of accountability. Plus there is concern about classrooms becoming virtual test-prep centers.

Administrators, wary of not meeting state-testing goals, may hope that the additional testing will bolster the state-test scores when those tests are taken again next year. They may have other reasons too. However, the idea that children can or should be summed up as a series of numbers is anathema to many Readington parents.

Where will this end?  Readingtonparents.org is calling for a compromise that would allow concerned parents an option to have their child skip the non state-mandated testing on a case by case basis. At the very least, this would allow a measure of individual attention and parental control where none exists today.