The testing debacle in Georgia covered many pages of today’s Atlanta Journal-Constitution. On the editorial page there were two essays; High Standards Help Students by Kathy Cox, Georgia Superintendent of Schools and Wrong Approach Setup for Failure by Rick Breault, associate professor of elementary and early childhood education, Kennesaw State University.

Schools were given an early warning that the results on the social studies and the math CRCT were not very good. Parents needed an early warning to deal with the eruption of contempt for the Georgia Department of Education. To deal with the 80% failure rate on the social studies test, the Superintendent has decided to “throw out the social studies CRCT” results. In reality, there was no consequence to a student whether he or she passed or failed the test. However, our Department of Education is holding fast to the math results. If you failed math, there is a consequence. You might not pass on to the next grade with your school mates.

Cox’s excuse is that the state has raised the Standards, and it will take a while for the students to catch up, or reach the new bar set by the state. The truth is that the department of education hasn’t a clue about learning and about students. As Rick Breault pointed out in his argument, “apparently it is much easier to create rigorous standards, let the students fail them and then question the credibility of teachers.”

The fact is the curriculum used in schools in the U.S. and most countries around the world has failed a very large percentage of students. To get by in school, students have learned to “play school” (Fatima’s rules). When playing school, students and some teachers, make it appear as though meaningful learning has occurred, but at best rote memorization of key terms and processes is only achieved temporarily.

The Standards are statements, written out of context, that define the canonical body of knowledge that students are to learn. These statements are the same for all students, and indeed the Standards are defined by grade level, e.g. at the end of this grade students should know….The Standards in each area of the curriculum (math, science, social studies, etc.) follow the same format.

So we find it interesting that the State claims that they have raised the standards, e.g. “high standards help students.” The State plays a game (not Fatima’s rules), a kind of titration—trying to adjust the dose of education until the schools get it right. According to the No Child Left Behind Act, we only have until 2013. By then every student must pass every subject area. We’ve got a ways to go in social studies and math in Georgia.

High-stakes testing has been a failure. We continue to use students and teachers as pawns, rather than reconsidering what we know about learning, how students learn, what we know about assessment, and the progress that teachers have made in knowing under what conditions students do and can learn.

The State Department is long way from knowing any of this.