Since passing the 'No Child Left Behind' act, it can be shown that the rate of progress measured by the National Assessment of Educational Progress has slowed (especially in math) for just about everyone. SAT scores have declined, and PISA scores have also, and (somehow) ACT scores haven't. But they haven't gone up, either. And it didn't really do what it was supposed to do: decrease the gaps between demographics. (for a lot more information, see this: washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2015/03/10/no-child-left-behind-what-standardized-test-scores-reveal-about-its-legacy/)
It's not surprising if you know what's happened. We worried, and fretted, and decided that testing to evaluate competency and progress and effectiveness all the time would help. Instead of actually doing the work. Instead of teaching, we are testing. And then we wonder why our students aren't learning as fast.
Administration is somewhat necessary. But it should be minimized. Administration and oversight is not actually doing work. As strange as that may sound.
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