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The article reports on the effect of budget cuts on educational testing in the United States, and the renewal of debates about the usefulness of standardized tests. Studies show that while states are cutting back on testing not required by federal rules, local school districts continue to use optional benchmark tests to track student progress.

The author presents her opinion on the importance of standardized educational testing and assessment for teaching and learning practices, advocating a reforming approach to educational testing rather than a complete elimination of testing and assessment as an accountability tool. She stresses the importance of validity in standardized tests, and she discusses the U.S. No Child Left Behind (NCLB) act, the SAT college-entrance test, and the U.S. Common Core State Standards.

The article focuses on the issue of errors that were printed in the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) standardized test. It explains that due to the errors, the reading scores from the test have been discounted. Mark S. Schneider, the commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, comments on the incident. The PISA test is described and the errors contained in the mathematics and science portions of the exam are also discussed.