Why do civil rights groups support high-stakes standardized testing?

Back in 2013 Diane Ravitch connected some of the dots. In a August 29 post headed "Do Civil Rights Groups Want More High-Stakes Testing?" she traced some of the funding of a group called the Campaign for High School Equity, which says waivers to No Child Left Behind "are allowing too many schools to avoid the consequences of being low-performing" and advocates closing schools with low test scores. Like so many other aspect of school "reform," the dots connect back to Bill Gates.

Among the CHSE's member organizations and/or grant recipients are respected organizations like the Urban League, NAACP, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the League of United Latin American Citizens. Ravitch asks:

Why are they in favor of high-stakes testing, even though the evidence is overwhelming that NCLB has failed the children they represent? I can’t say for sure, but this I do know. The Campaign for High School Equity is funded by the Gates Foundation. It received a grant of nearly $500,000. Some if not all of its members have also received grants from Gates to support the CHSE.

Ravitch has the details, with a link to CHSE's website for their side of the story, on her blog at http://dianeravitch.net/2013/08/29/do-civil-rights-groups-want-more-high-stakes-testing/. CHSE is only one of many pro-corporate school "reform" organizations, and its grants are only one piece of the puzzle. I wouldn't necessarily say groups like the NAACP and LULAC have been co-opted. But I think the evidence strongly supports Ravitch's claim that high-stakes standardized testing does not in fact help the communities they serve:

When CHSE demands more high-stakes testing, more labeling of schools as “failed,” more public school closings, more sanctions, more punishments, they are not speaking for communities of color. They are speaking for the Gates Foundation.

Whoever is actually speaking for minority communities and children of color is advocating for more pre-school education, smaller class sizes, equitable resources, more funding of special education, more funding for children who are learning English, experienced teachers, restoration of budget cuts, the hiring of social workers and guidance counselors where they are needed, after-school programs, and access to medical care for children and their families.