Standardized Testing Causing Other Students in School to Not Have Classes

[Jim Lane]

6. Stupid question from a nonparent....

I'm not up on the details of NCLB and the testing mania. Specifically, how much of this applies to nonpublic schools?

I'm wondering if there are schools (Catholic or other religious schools, old-fashioned private schools, new-fangled charter schools) where the educational philosophy is: We're not going to waste valuable time on incessant testing combined with the "teaching to the test" that it produces. We'll do the minimum of testing, and we'll spend only a small amount of time on test preparation, just to make sure the kids are familiar with the types of questions. Yes, this means our average test scores will be a bit lower, but we're pitching our school to parents who value genuine learning.

Can nonpublic schools cut way back on the testing? Are there significant numbers that cut way back on the test prep, accepting the consequence of lower average scores?