That the fervor against standardized testing is bubbling over may be best evidenced by the fact that Arne Duncan found it necessary to address the use of standardized tests in a Washington Post op-ed last week.  His op-ed walks a very fine line, sympathizing and agreeing with critiques of standardized testing, on the one hand, and defending the tests as a necessary tool for benchmarking students and teachers on the other.  His most poignant statement may have been:

To be clear: I strongly believe in using high-quality assessments, including annual tests, as one (but only one) part of how adults improve instruction and hold themselves responsible for students’ progress. With my own kids, I know parent-teacher conferences, grades and other feedback round out the picture of whether they’re on track.

That point, however, is not necessarily in serious contention. Most would allow that tests offer a benchmark for consideration.  The new teacher evaluation systems in various states do far more than just "round out the picture."  State statutes mandate their consideration in particular ways and with particular metrics that create an entirely new set of motivations for teachers and administrators, and raise an entirely new set of legal issues, hence the series of legal battles brewing in the states.

Of course, it is not Secretary Duncan's responsibility to comment on or mediate those legal issues, but his op-ed is an implicit defense of these systems.  To his credit, he acknowledges the need to improve the tests before teachers' and students' feel their full weight.  This, however, is an after-the-fact effort to correct a flaw in the various state systems that federal policy kicked into gear starting in 2009.  Not ready to fully engage these issues, he instead drifts into other issues such as pre-kindergarten education and equitable funding--which are far less contentious among those committed to improving education.