ABSTRACT
Most foreign observers would likely be confused or bemused by the controversy over external, high-stakes standardized testing in the United States. Or they might even be peeved, because the overwhelming majority of media coverage and anti-testing research in the United States implicitly assumes that no other country on earth has any experience with testing or is worth talking to about it. The source of confusion is the anti-testing advocates who present their own version of the battlefield and the identity of the combatants. Inside the War on Testing is another, smaller, but still important battle-ground where the "testing experts" fight. Anyone reading US journalists' "coverage" of the War on Testing these past few years might be surprised to learn this. Some more reasonable journalistic efforts at balance have pitted testing opponents against middle-of-the-roaders, like state testing directors or politicians who are always, it seems, presumed by journalists to be testing proponents, even though they may not be.
