In an article for the Concord Monitor, New Hampshire-based writer Lee Laughlin writes that the anti-testing rhetoric is so obscure that she needs to rely on her communications degree to decipher the message. A parent of school-aged children, she has heard the arguments both for and against the Smarter Balanced assessment that New Hampshire and many other states use, has done her research, and had her son take the test this year:

I’ve spent some time researching both Common Core and the associated Smarter Balanced tests. In my opinion, the New Hampshire Department of Education has done a good job putting out facts and explanations supporting its position.

I’ve found it really hard to find the same type of information from those opposing Common Core and the Smarter Balanced tests… Thus far, most of the materials I’ve encountered that oppose Common Core and the Smarter Balanced tests either come from random, uncited sources or from groups with whom I do not share common values.

I allowed my son to take the tests… Part of the reason I let him take the test is that testing is something we encounter all our lives, and many careers use standardized tests as a path to advancement. Nurses, financial planners, electricians, auto mechanics and even event planners take standardized tests for certification purposes. Funny how I don’t see a kerfuffle about the Auto Service Excellence exams, but car dealers and repair shops use the certification as a marketing tool all the time.

Laughlin’s full article can be found here.