"Standardized testing isn't a particularly good way to gauge schools' ability" Maybe not the best, but it's still a measure, however crude, and that it's going

"Standardized testing isn't a particularly good way to gauge schools' ability" Maybe not the best, but it's still a measure, however crude, and that it's going down is a legitimate cause for concern. It's not magic - basic reading and math comprehension, are probably fairly strongly correlated with all sorts of life outcomes, though as you point out maybe not as direct as we would like to think - it still matters. As messed up and politicized as the teaching industry may be - at the core level, again, it's not rocket science: decent teachers, students who are somewhat motivated and want to learn, a classroom with a blackboard and some books etc. etc..