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The past month has witnessed many skirmishes over the reliability of rising state test scores as measures of some high-profile education reforms' success. At issue are:

• Disparities between sharply rising state assessment results and less impressive results on the National Assessment of Educational Progress.
• Worries that increases in state proficiency rates reflect efforts to bump a few students just over the official proficiency threshold rather than widespread achievement gains.
• Concerns that gains on state assessments might have as much to do with changes to those assessments as with improvements in learning.

Unfortunately, the most strident commentators on these test results tend to pose a false choice between tests and no tests.  No one should use problems with current testing systems as a justification for ending all standardized testing. Nor should anyone portray all critics of current tests as unhinged opponents of any accountability system. 

It would make far more sense to invest much more energy and many more resources in sound accountability systems and much better assessments.  Yes, it would be very difficult and very expensive to do so. Yet the alternative is to strip standardized assessment of any credibility.