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uarezDIRECTOR,OPERATIONSSandra D.AdamsCONGRESSIONAL QUARTERLY INC.CHAIRMANAndrew BarnesVICE CHAIRMANAndrew P.CortyPRESIDENT AND PUBLISHERRobert W.MerryCopyright 2001 Congressional Quarterly Inc.(CQ).CQ reserves all copyright and other rights herein,unless previously specified in writing.No part ofthis publication may be reproduced electronicallyor otherwise,without prior written permission.Unauthorized reproduction or transmission of CQcopyrighted material is a violation of federal lawcarrying civil fines of up to$100,000.The CQ Researcher(ISSN 1056-2036)is printed onacid-free paper.Published weekly,except Jan.5,June 29,July 6,July 20,Aug.10,Aug.17,Nov.30and Dec.28,by Congressional Quarterly Inc.Annual subscription rate for libraries,businessesand government is$500.Single issues are availablefor$10(subscribers)or$20(non-subscribers).Quantity discounts apply to orders over 10.Addi-tional rates furnished upon request.Periodicalspostage paid at Washington,D.C.,and additionalmailing offices.POSTMASTER:Send addresschanges to The CQ Researcher,1414 22nd St.,N.W.,Washington,D.C.20037.April 20,2001Volume 11,No.15CQResearcherTHECover:Fifth-grader Nic Johnson takes the Illinois Standard Achievement Exam at FarmingdaleElementary School.(AP Photo/Seth Perlman)CQ on the Web:www.cq.comApril 20,2001 323BY KENNETH JOSTTHE ISSUESTesting in SchoolsStudents at Vail Middle School in Middletown,Ohio,prepare for the state’s standardized tests.President Bushproposes requiring annual reading and math tests forall public school students in grades 3-8.PAohotPs/AlehrmanBBack in 1987,OhioEducation Superin-t e n d e n t F r a n k l i nWalter helped create a pro-ficiency test that every Ohiopublic school student hadto pass to graduate.Now Ohio school kidsare hit with tests just aboutevery year.For fourth-andeighth-graders,there’s aweek of proficiency tests infive areas;other grades getstandardized tests everyyear.“That’s entirely too muchtesting,”says Walter,now a professorof educational administration at OhioState University.“When you combinestandardized tests with the amount oftests that teachers give,it becomestoo much testing.It takes too muchtime away from instruction.”Many Ohio parents and teachersagree.“It’s testing gone insane,”saysMary O’Brien,a member of the grass-roots group Parents Against Unfair Pro-ficiency Testing,whose five childrenhave all attended Ohio public schools.“People are not happy with thetests,”says John Grossman,presidentof the Columbus Education Associa-tion,a teachers’union.“There’s toomuch pressure on the young people,and they don’t see any point.”If President Bush has his way,however,youngsters in most stateswill be seeing more tests than theyalready face in public schools.Bushis proposing to require annual testingfor all students in reading and mathfrom third through eighth grade.Test results,Bush says,will helpparents,students,teachers and admin-istrators measure the performance ofindividual students,schools and schooldistricts.And he wants to use the scoresto designate“failing schools”that wouldface the possibility of reduced federalaid if they do not improve performancewithin three years.“Without yearly testing,we don’tknow who is falling behind and whoneeds help,”Bush said in announc-ing his plan on Jan.23,during hisfirst week in office.“Without yearlytesting,too often we don’t find fail-ure until it is too late to fix.”Bush’s proposal is moving forwardin Congress with bipartisan support.House and Senate bills both includeannual