Real Improvement for Real Students:

In this essay, Betty J. Sternberg argues that the increased money and time spent on meeting the summative testing requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) adds little to the existing “gold standard” testing conducted by the State of Connecticut. Sternberg highlights the challenges faced by one state in meeting the requirements of NCLB: She identifies the diversion of multiple resources, the limited usefulness of summative testing, and the inability of testing companies to meet increased demands as impediments to improving student achievement. Using Connecticut’s program-focused accountability model, Sternberg posits that the right combination of formative testing in conjunction with summative testing and supplementary programming ensures the academic success of all students.

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Betty J. Sternberg is the superintendent of the Greenwich (Connecticut) Public Schools. She is a twenty-six-year veteran of the Connecticut State Department of Education, where she served as commissioner of education for the State of Connecticut between 2003 and 2006. Sternberg directed the development of the Connecticut Mastery Test and Connecticut Academic Performance Test, the state’s annual assessments of student achievement.