The Education System in the United States Diane Ravitch, a senior researcher at New York University, has written several books and hundreds of articles related to the education system in the United States. In one of his articles published by Education Week, he states that "most fourth graders living in US cities cannot read and understand a simple children's book, and most eighth graders cannot they know how to use arithmetic to solve a practical problem.” This is a reason to test schools and its students on what they have learned. Those who support standardized testing say it is a useful way to benchmark a school and its students against other schools internationally. The opposing side of the issue argues that too much time is spent on testing. There are arguments that standardized tests are not an accurate way to judge a school and its ability to teach students. Julian Barnes of the New York Times notes that education experts complained that "measuring second graders with standardized tests was unreliable." Educators simply say there is "too much testing and at too young an age." In fact, New York second graders take twelve to thirteen tests over the course of the academic school year. Some teachers and parents feel that all this testing time could have been put to better use. But it's not a waste of time: it serves a purpose. Dr. Cookson, a professor at Columbia University's Teachers College, discusses this issue in a New York Times article titled "Q & A: Stress Test." He explains that “What may not be great about this is that you can't funnel an instruction through a number.” But it also emphasizes that the test provides feedback on the academic climate of a partic...... half of article......nts.Bibliography:Works CitedBarnes, Julian E. "Reading Test for 2d Grade is Canceled after the protests." New York Times on the Web. http://www.nytimes.com/library/national/regional/ March 13, 1999. April 29, 1999Nakamura, David. “State testing programs face special challenges.” Washington Post.http://search.washingtonpost.com/up-srv/Wplate/1999-04/25/2741-0425599-idx.htmlApril 25, 1999. April 29, 1999 “Questions and Answers: Stress Test.” New York Times on the Web. January 3, 1999. April 27, 1999 Ravitch, Diane. "Our school problem and its solution". City Journal.http://www.edexcellence.net/library/problem. Winter issue 1999. 6 May. 1999Steinberg, Jacques. “Testing whether city children can achieve reading grades.” New York Times on the Web. http://www.nytimes.com/library/national/. April 18, 1999. April 29. 1999