Kill the messenger : the war on standardized testing / Richard P. Phelps ; with a foreword by Herbert J. Walberg and a preface by J.E. Stone.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 301-319) and index.

Reveille - Prelude to Battle (Introduction) -- 1. The Battlefield (Testing Systems and Testing Interests) -- 2. Attack Strategies and Tactics -- 3. Campaigns: The Big, Bad SAT -- 4. Campaigns: Texas, the Early Years -- 5. Campaigns: Texas, the Presidential Election Year 2000 -- 6. War Correspondence (Media Coverage of Testing) -- 7. The Fruits of Victory (Benefits of Testing) -- 8. The Spoils of War (Valid Concerns about Testing) -- 9. The Agony of Defeat (The Consequences of Losing the War: The Alternatives to Standardized Testing) -- App. An Anti-Testing Vocabulary.

"Kill the Messenger is perhaps the most thorough and authoritative work in defense of educational testing ever written. Phelps points out that much research conducted by education insiders on the topic is based on ideological preference or profound self-interest. It is not surprising that they arrive at emphatically anti-testing conclusions. He notes that "external" and "high stakes" testing in particular attracts a cornucopia of invective. Much, if not most, of this hostile research is passed on to the public by journalists as if it were neutral, objective, and independent." "Kill the Messenger describes the current debate, the players, their interests, and their positions. It explains and refutes many of the common criticisms of testing. It describes testing opponents' strategies, through case studies of Texas and the SAT. It illustrates the profound media bias against testing. It acknowledges testing's limitations, and suggests how it can be improved. It defends testing by comparing it with its alternatives. And finally, it outlines the consequences for America of losing the "war on standardized testing.""--BOOK JACKET.

Machine converted from AACR2 source record.