"The question that dismays all teachers and ought to concern everyparent because of what it reveals about what school can do to achild's curiosity -- ?Will this be on the test?' -- will never beanswered again in the same way. Bob Rothman offers a rich andcompelling account of the unfolding revolution in testing inAmerica's schools."
-- Richard P. Mills, Vermont commissioner of education

An award-winning journalist, Rothman cuts through the assessmentdebate -- a debate often characterized by misrepresentations andjargon -- to offer a highly accessible examination of the shift inthinking about testing. He underscores that any change must beginwith the And: what we want students to know and be able to do. Suchchanges demand a new way of knowing what students can achieve--anda system that enables them to achieve.

ROBERT ROTHMAN is a senior associate at the National Alliance for Restructuring Education. As an associate editor for Education Week, he covered a broad range of national, state, and local education issues. Rothman also spent a year as a visiting researcher at the Center for Research Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing at the University of California, Los Angeles Graduate School of Education.