Scores rise, even as more take SAT | csmonitor.com: "...The Bush administration's signature No Child Left Behind Act mandates annual testing in reading and mathematics for grades 3 to 8, with penalties for schools that do not demonstrate 'adequate yearly progress.'

YET the states that were poster children for this new approach, Texas and Florida, register only modest, single-digit gains, whereas some states that do not emphasize high stakes tests show gains in the double digits.

'Texas and Florida have been treading water for years, while states like Vermont are moving ahead much faster than the national average,' says Bob Schaeffer, director of the National Center for Fair & Open testing (FairTest), a national advocacy group that is opposed to high-stakes testing. 'It undermines the claim that high-stakes tests improve overall education quality.'"