Admittedly, our understanding of standardized testing in schools is not as thorough as it might be. We found information about standardized testing after watching a youtube video.

Photo is from this article at The Atlantic: “What Happens When Students Boycott a Standardized Test?”

The pablum being fed to American parents might bear some closer scrutiny.

Unfortunately, we don’t subscribe to HBO so we don’t get to watch “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” – a show with biting humor, Anglo-Saxon invectives and incredibly,  truth.

A year ago, John Oliver’s piece on the company that sells the concept of “standardized testing” to “elected public servants” who then squeeze education systems to force it on parents and students … all the while making barrels of cash.

Follow this trail of published articles about the standardized testing in this country. The trail begins with Oliver’s observations:

• “American students face a ridiculous amount of testing. John Oliver explains how standardized tests impact school funding, the achievement gap, how often kids are expected to throw up.”

• “John Oliver has an epic takedown of standardized testing in America.” – Business Insider

• “Pearson responds to criticism about its standardized tests” – The Washington Post

• “Pearson Education – Who are these people?” – The Huffington Post

• “Concerns rising over Pearson, the company behind PARCC and other tests” – PhillyVoice.com

• Pearson’s Profit Lobby – WatchDogWire

• Annual Lobbying by Pearson – OpenSecrets

• “Why Poor Schools Can’t Win at Standardized Testing” – The Atlantic

• Pearson’s Pennsylvania Website

• “13 Reasons why standardized tests are worthless” – American Institute for Learning

• “Is the Use of Standardized Tests Improving Education in America?” – ProCon.org

• Parents have the right to “opt-out” of the testing

Click on the logo above to learn more about a local initiative: Lancaster County Opt-Out