I dislike standardized testing.  I've blogged about this before.  Sure, it's a logical solution to test a large population of students and therefore judge them along the same standards, but that hardly means it is fair or accurate.  But this is off topic.

Today's blog is about a shift in the standards of standardized testing.  A shift for the worse.

In New York, state exams are becoming easier and easier to pass.  No, the questions aren't being dumbed down.  The required scores are. 

In 2006, students needed to answer 60% of questions correctly to pass the state exams.  Today, they need just 44% to pass.

Yikes.

I'm sure some students are stoked to take a test that is easier to pass.  Who doesn't love a class curve?  But passing students who are actually failing is a disservice to those students.  They still need to learn, standardized test or none.

What standardized tests have you recently taken?  What do you consider to be the pros and cons of standardized tests?