Cass Ballenger: “I rise in support of H.R. 2846, a bill prohibiting any new Federal testing without specific congressional authority. Let…”

“I rise in support of H.R. 2846, a bill prohibiting any new Federal testing without specific congressional authority. Let me first say that we do not need another achievement test for our Nation's students. Let me name a few of the tests we already have in existence. The Stanford Achievement Test, the Iowa Test of Basic Skills, the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills, the National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as NAEPS, and the Third International Math and Science Study, known as TIMMS. Again, these are just a few of tests currently used to assess student performance. So let us focus now for a moment on TIMMS. It is the largest study of educational achievement undertaken so far. There are 45 countries participating. Five grades are assessed in two school subjects, and approximately one million students tested in 31 languages. Through this study we already know how students in this country are performing in math and science, so why do we need another math test?”