Study: Kids take 100-plus required tests through 12th grade

By JENNIFER C. KERR
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — A new study says the typical student in the nation’s big-city public schools spends between 20 and 25 hours a school year taking standardized tests – and roughly 112 mandatory exams from preschool through high school.

The study, from the Council of the Great City Schools, comes amid a new era of Common Core-aligned testing that’s been met with loud dissent from parents, teachers and others.

Researchers analyzed actual test-taking time, so that doesn’t include the hours devoted to prep ahead of testing required by the federal government, states or local districts. It also didn’t include daily classroom quizzes and tests in reading, math, science, foreign languages and other subjects.

The issue is the subject of a White House meeting Monday between President Barack Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan.

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