ABSTRACT
I write this chapter in the shadow of testing mania. In an effort to leave no child behind, students must now take schoolwide quarterly benchmark assessments, district-mandated essays and multiple-choice exams, yearly state-required tests, nationally normed assessments, midterms, final exams, and high school exit exams. In addition, many students will also take the SAT I's, SAT IPs, advanced placement exams, and college entrance exams (in California, they might take both the English Placement Test and the Golden State Exam—I'm sure your state has equivalent assessments). All of these tests are in addition to the many assessments classroom teachers regularly give. With all this emphasis on testing, it often seems we are one or two exams away from not teaching at all—students will be busy taking tests for the entire school year.
