Nullius in verba

Recently, there was a near riot at a town hall event in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., with angry parents shouting down state education officials. Poughkeepsie is no uber-liberal antitest hotbed, but folks there (and elsewhere in the state) were upset that thousands of honor roll students had failed tough new state tests.

Among other things, parents voiced a question seldom heard in the last few decades:  What’s the proof that the tests are any good? That is, how do you know these tests provide a valid and reliable measure of student performance?

If the public knew how weak the tests were, there would be open revolt.