Mrs Donaldson also questioned the government's reading test for six-year-olds.

BBC: Pupils learn to read 'in many ways', says laureate

In reading, the most recent test results for 17 year olds have remained static since 1994 and are slightly lower than the years between 1988 and 1992.

BBC: Handwriting

The law requires schools to test students for math and reading annually in third through eighth grades and once in high school.

WSJ: Eight More States Get No Child Left Behind Waiver

New York's test scores for maths and reading have risen.

ECONOMIST: New York��s schools

In Ghana, for example, sixth-graders sitting a simple multiple-choice reading test scored on average the same mark that would be gained by random guessing.

ECONOMIST: Education

Nowhere else can you browse a selection of more than 82, 000 paper books, walk over to Area-e, our new digital hub, where you test drive a variety of e-Reading devices, and then search for your next favorite book in our e-Bookstore.

ENGADGET: New Kobo eReader gets wireless connection, faster processor, pretty colors

There are certainly people who fall into different camps on certain issues, for example people who want to use pay for performance based on test scores, school-choice advocates, people who think reading should be taught by using phonics, people who think there should be no homework, and on and on and on.

FORBES: Rachel Levy on Framing the Education Reform Debate

Thanks to the actions of this Congress last year, we will soon have for the very first time a voluntary national test based on national standards in fourth grade reading and eighth grade math.

CNN: State Of The Union

Examiners will struggle too, to produce a single test that measures the same level of ability in children of different ages. (In music tests all candidates for a given grade play the same pieces: in an English test, quite different reading texts and writing topics would suit an eight-year-old than an 11-year-old.) The changes might even have the perverse effect of making children sit more tests.

ECONOMIST: School examinations