Blog

TitleDateExcerpt
What ESSA Means for New York Testing and Why Aussie Parents Should CareThe Every Student Succeeds Act reshaped American classrooms when it replaced No Child Left Behind in late 2015. While it sits across the Pacific from Sydney…
Making Sense of Ambiguous Percentile Bands on Your Child's Test ReportWhen the test results arrive, the numbers on a state report often feel deliberately opaque. Australian parents know this frustration intimately: the annual…
Why NYSED Public Comments Often Change Very LittleFor parents and teachers in New York, submitting a comment to the New York State Education Department can feel like taking part in democracy. A proposed…
How to Track School Board Candidates’ Testing PositionsSchool board elections can shape how often students sit standardised tests, how results are used, and whether families can refuse participation. Candidates may…
How opt-out rates shape a school's state ranking and report cardWhen families in New York keep their children home on state testing day, the participation rate drops and the data used to judge a school becomes thinner. A…
Tracing testing industry money to your local school boardStandardised testing suppliers spend serious money trying to influence which assessments land in classrooms. In Australia, where NAPLAN is the most prominent…
When a test simulation permission slip arrives from your child's schoolParents across Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane are reporting an odd new addition to the pile of school notices tucked into backpacks at the start of term: a…
Bringing Testing Into Parent-Teacher Conference AgendasStandardised testing can shape how students are taught, grouped and supported, yet test-related decisions are often discussed outside ordinary family meetings.…
Why Timed Tests Disadvantage Students with Processing DifferencesThe annual English Language Arts and mathematics assessments given to pupils across New York contain timed segments requiring examinees to finish large blocks…
Helping new neighbours navigate the opt-out process for their childrenMoving to a new suburb can feel unsettling, even within Australia. The Saturday bakery queue, school pick-up scramble, and local footy club all look familiar…
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