3rd Grade Frustrations in Oklahoma...Many Children Will Be Left Behind...

This year is the first year that 3rd grade students will be held back if they don't pass the spring test in April. Oklahoma's brilliant politicians....and I say this with a heavy dose of sarcasm....thought that this would be a good way to hold schools accountable. ELL and IEP students are NOT exempt. So a student that has been identified with a disability under IDEA can and will be held back if they don't pass their grade level test this year.  My students already have test anxiety due to the amount of assessments that are occurring more and more often every year (weekly assessments, monthly assessments, quarterly assessments, Easy CBM, Gates, etc...etc...etc....)  When will it all stop? I am not saying that assessments are bad. We have to have assessments to document student progress. I feel that we need to look at growth models instead of a one-size fits all assessment. Your thoughts?