Testing provides crucial information.

The National Urban League president and CEO Marc H. Morial weighs in on what he sees as the need for continued annual assessments of students, rejecting the course of opting out that has taken hold in some places across America. Assessment data provides students with the opportunity to receive personalized supports and necessary interventions to achieve academic success Morial said. All parents want their children to succeed in school and they have the right to know how well and in what ways their children are excelling or struggling. Education stakeholders, including parents, also have a right to know where education systems are making progress and where they need intervention. Statewide annual assessments are the only objective, consistent, and comparable measure of student success. Assessments are a part of life and while they are not comfortable, they are necessary. We wouldn’t ask a parent not to take their child to the doctor for their annual check-up, said Morial. Similarly, we should not encourage parents to skip their child’s annual academic check-up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]