The Best Research & Reflections About Why Test Scores Should Not Be The Be All/End All In Evaluating Schools & Student Progress

[Larry Ferlazzo]

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It’s fairly typical for public panics to ensue when reductions in student test scores are made public.

But the full story is not typically told, as I described in May (see Yes, A Big Study Came Out Today Highlighting Plummeting Test Scores But, No, I Don’t Think It Tells The Whole Story).

Here are more reflections and research why, perhaps, test score panic might be overblown (you might also be interested in The Best Articles Describing Alternatives To High-Stakes Testing — Help Me Find More):

New Research Again Says Maybe Test Scores Should Not Be End All Be All For High Schools

New Study Reaffirms What Most Teachers Know – Student Test Scores Don’t Provide Accurate Assessment Of Schools

Another Important Study Finds That Teachers Focusing On Increasing Student Test Scores Doesn’t Help A Lot Of Students

New Study Finds That – Surprise, Surprise – Evaluating A High School On Student Test Scores Misses The Boat

Beware Studies Of “Student Achievement” is by Peter Greene.

The ‘No Child Left Behind’ Nostalgia Is Delusional www.nytimes.com/2026/06/22/o… gift link

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— Larry Ferlazzo (@larryferlazzo.bsky.social) June 22, 2026 at 5:41 AM