The Test: Why Our Schools are Obsessed with Standardized Testing—But You Don’t Have to Be

The buzzwords and counterarguments of the nationwide testing debate are enough to make any parent’s head spin, and Kamenetz’s book adds to the confusing array as much as it clarifies it. NPR blogger and mother Kamenetz seeks to understand the counterintuitive world of standardized testing, hoping to “resolve a personal dilemma about how to educate [her] child.” She wants her daughter to succeed in school and on tests, but doesn’t want the girl’s creativity and individuality snuffed out by the high-stakes environment. Kamenetz runs readers through a battery of familiar arguments against testing: the tests waste time and money, they make teachers hate teaching, they require teaching to cater to the test, they penalize diversity, and they test the wrong things. She then summarizes the history of testing in the U.S. from 1795 to the present day and digs deep into the business practices that govern current testing systems and policy. As Kamenetz acknowledges, important tests and teacher accountability are not going away, so she offers several strategies to keep students balanced and calm while preparing for such exams, but her suggestions for students and parents, ranging from meditating to opting out, are not always practical. She also devotes considerable discussion to the appealing idea of “game-based” assessments as the future of standardized testing, while admitting that the effectiveness of the approach is still largely unproven. Agent: Jim Levine, Levine Greenberg Rostan Literary Agency. (Jan.)