Giving Compass' Take:

• Education Dive explains why time for core subjects shouldn't be sacrificed for assessment preparation, citing the example of a superintendent in New Jersey that got rid of his district's school report card out of frustration over test prep.

• How can we use this as a starting point for more school reform? The testing debate may never die down, but we can still have an honest discussion over what's best for student learning.

• Here's more on the changes made with assessments in education. 

Paymon Rouhanifard, the former superintendent of New Jersey's Camden City School District, writes for Chalkbeat that he found assessments championed by many districts across the country — including his — are cutting into time for core subjects including the sciences, arts and civics.

While he was superintendent, Rouhanifard got rid of his district’s school report card, which publicly noted performance on assessments. While he doesn’t believe these exams should be completely eliminated, he does think they should be used differently, and more so as “a dipstick to measure systems.”

Changing the way student learning is assessed by schools and districts, as well as how much time is spent on preparing children for these tests, may result in a minor drop in scores, he said. But that, he added, may be what’s needed to get children the education they truly deserve.

Read the full article about test preparation and core subjects in schools by Lauren Barack at Education Dive.