Obama Administration Announced New Guidelines, Saying Kids Spend Too Much Time Taking "Unnecessary" Exams In Schools.

Stressed-out students nationwide, take note. Relief is on the way.
After years of complaints from teachers, parents and students alike, the Obama administration on Saturday announced new guidelines toward standardized tests, saying kids spend too much time taking "unnecessary" exams in schools.

In a Facebook video message, President Barack Obama said he hears from parents who worry about "too much testing, and from teachers who feel so much pressure to teach to a test that it takes the joy out of teaching and learning."
"I want to fix that," he said.
The Department of Education said "the Administration bears some of the responsibility for" the issue, releasing a "Testing Action Plan" outlining new principles for measuring student aptitude. The plan says current policies have led to "unnecessary testing" with "not enough clarity of purpose."
The guidelines are recommendations for school districts to follow but are not binding regulations.
The administration isn't citing specific tests that should be continued or scrapped, leaving that decision up to the particular districts as testing differs from state to state. The guidelines don't replace those that are part of No Child Left Behind, but if Congress were to alter that law and include the Obama administration's recommendations, districts would then be required to follow them.
Additional details will be released in January, the White House told CNN.
The administration gives general ways to assess each of those qualities.
Obama said the new guidelines call for taking only the "tests that are worth taking"-- that are "high quality, aimed at good instruction" and that ensure students are "on track."