There has been a lot of distrust around the actions of the state’s testing vendor and its attempts to prevent cheating on standardized tests.
As we see it, these criticisms are overblown and rely on the hope that people won’t actually take the time to understand the situation.
The details make a difference.
Pearson Education social media posts — material in the public domain — and made note of a handful of instances in which students have revealed detailed information about tests they’ve taken.
In some cases, we’re talking about images of the actual test pages distributed on social media. In the pre-digital era, it would be like one kid sneaking a page of a test to others who hadn’t taken it.
In Colorado, Pearson has flagged a handful of such infractions, and districts have worked with students to have the material quickly removed.
And that is how it should be.
Concerns about the volume and frequency of standardized tests are valid and there is work yet to be done in paring down the test load. But such zeal should not turn into a testing witch hunt in which all actions associated with testing are criticized without regard to nuance.
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