Excellent points being made. I want to give some more thought to all this, but meanwhile here is a very specific and current perspective on what's happening wrt science standards and requirements in Massachusetts--really the hotbed of high-stakes testing in education today.
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ed...cause_of_mcas/
This opinion piece points out the minority, low-income, and urban factors in not passing the MCAS (standards test), argues for dropping the MCAS science requirement for graduation, and brings out the fact that private and religious schools get a pass on this.
This veers a bit off the topic in its totality, but also sheds light on some points of discussion here. As a side note: I managed production of the MCAS 2010 and 2011. The politics are searing.