Regarding the two national assessment consortia, the nature and use of the assessments will be crucial. Mathis expresses concern, noting that No Child Left Behind resulted in high-stakes testing that narrowed and “dumbed down” the curriculum and often resulted in test-driven drill and practice. Whether the testing consortia have the financial resources to implement high-quality and higher-order assessments on time is also an open question. [Emphasis mine.]
Whatever you think about the CCSS, that last part is the key. And it’s not just the financial resources; I can’t imagine given the amount of time we’re going to spend testing that at some point people aren’t going to stand up and say “Enough!"