Here are some relatively recent useful article on education policy issues:

Great uncertainty over direction of state standardized tests
is an article over at Ed Source that does an extraordinarily good job at describing the many challenges involved in the “next generation” of state testing. It specifically discusses California, but I suspect the issues are similar in many other places. I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Learning About The “Next Generation” Of State Testing.

What Happened to Public Education on Election Night? is from Dissent. I’m adding it to The Best Reports On Education-Related 2012 Election Results.

Why the School Turnaround Experiment Is Failing is by John Thompson. I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Learning About The Four School Improvement Grant Models.

How Do Value-Added Indicators Compare to Other Measures of Teacher Effectiveness? is by Douglas Harris. I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Learning About The “Value-Added” Approach Towards Teacher Evaluation.