This is really a big problem. A lot of parents come in with highly unreasonable expectations for their child. Often, it is the parents who enforce "study time" but who do not actually "go over" the work with the kid that do the best.

In my experience, when parents get overly involved (and want to say, look at EVERY problem the child does and critique it) everyone suffers. The parent may want to teach their child differently from the way I do it, which can create conflicting impulses. Also, much of what makes testing difficult is the perceived stigma and heightened consequences of the exam. Parents with too-high expectations and an overbearing demeanor just reinforce the fears that the child already has.

In all, I think it is important that parents maintain an active role in the schoolwork of their children, but that role should be encouraging, not one of micro-management.

This article hints at another issue, but doesn't fully explore it--rising societal expectations. For example, my child's kindergarten teacher expects her to copy ten spelling words five times every night up to the spelling test on Friday. First, as a child in kindergarten I have a distinct recollection of having trouble writing all the letters of the alphabet much less entire words. As a first grader, I managed to get a 100 on every spelling even though my sole practice was having my mother read the words to me while I looked at them, and then administering a single practice test the night before the actual test in school. Yet, despite my poor writing skills in kindergarten and lack of spelling practice as a first grader, I have managed to complete several graduate degrees and am currently writing my dissertation for a Ph.d. in rhetoric. Although this example is a minor one, it is indicative of a broader trend to saddle children with accelerated educational goals, in this case learning to spell in kindergarten, and additional tasks to acheive these unrealistic goals, in this case copying a ridiculous number of words. As a parent and an educator that witnesses the end product of this system, I have difficulty seeing the value of these current pedagogical practices in elementary education, and I really have trouble summoning the will to support them in my home when we could be doing something that does clearly have educational value like reading. Furthermore, I have trouble reconciling the demands of the educational system with the goals I have for my child. I want my child to do well in school, but I think it's more important for her to learn and think. These goals shouldn't be mutually exclusive, but it starting to feel like they are. Sadly in their efforts to get in front of standardized tests, I'm not sure educators are really teaching our children anymore. Do I just stop encouraging my child to do well in school, so that I can develop skills that I value like critical thinking and meaningful reading? And why is that a choice I'm faced with? Why can't someone write an article about how to negotiate those treacherous waters?

I don't disagree with the gist of the article, but the specifics sometimes bother me.

For instance, there ought not to be much "home study" or "home work" at all until middle school.

From my research, the experts claim that homework is in fact counterproductive until middle school, and its not pedagogics who have instituted it, but rampaging POLITICIANS, mostly inspired by that hysteric, Elizabeth Dole, who did not understand that the massive amount of time spent in China and Japan on homework is due ONLY to the pictographich language those kids have to learn!

There are so many things we have gotten terribly wrong from these know it alls who thought their ideology gave them some right to brain fart us into the cultural and ecnomic ditch!

We should do it like Europe does...they are SUCCESSFUL.

You are right there. Europe has always been successful in education.

By standardizing everything you always end up leaving some children behind as not everyone can learn at the same level.

I know that this opinion will be met with much resistance, but I actually believe in standardized testing. Though the system is fraught with problems and likely does not truly represent a student's ability, to me there is not another viable option.

Parents and the government have the reasonable expectation that only qualified teachers should be in the classroom. Also, as the poet George W. Bush once put it, they consistently ask, "Is our children learning?".

The best way to achieve these goals is to set up a "standard", and then test for it. Any other measure of success is going to have larger issues and implications. Already, some schools better prepare students for the exam; if standardized tests are replaced with a less formalized method, this inequity can only increase.

In all, standardized testing is a problematic system, with many faults. Researchers feel the tests discriminate against minorities, and instead of actually teaching, many instructors "teach to the test". Given that, it is still the best way we currently have of judging what goes on in the school.