The report, “The Student & the Stopwatch: How much time do American students spend on testing?” produced by Teach Plus and authored by Mark Teoh, Ed.D., director of Research& Knowledge at Teach Plus and a former teacher and administrator, encompasses research from 32 districts across the U.S.—both urban and suburban—and over 300 teachers. The report measured testing habits in both English Language Arts (ELA) and math in kindergarten, third and seventh grades.

What researchers found was that there are three enormous misconceptions when it comes to students testing, with implications for district policy, test design and the implementation of Common Core testing. “The report clearly demonstrated that the current polarized testing debate is not rooted in the reality our students face across the country,” said Dr. Celine Coggins, CEO of Teach Plus. “The amount of time students spend taking tests is considerably lower than most people would estimate. It is time to shift the national conversation on testing from the amount of test time to the quality of tests and ensuring that teachers have the information they need to help their students succeed.”