It used to be that every ten years or so, old education reform ideas would come back repackaged with a new name. Now we can’t get rid of them. No Test Left Behind is going to linger for an eternity. Race to the Top of Test Mountain seems to have a half-life of forever. The MEAP and MME are based on “old” standards. Senseless Unbalanced is supposed to replace those tests. So we teach the old stuff for the old tests as we transition to Common Core and Next Generation Science, preparing for tests that are not yet written. I’ll bet you dollars to doughnuts that none of this leaves and it all stays.

Joseph M. Rathke
Ida Education Association President