http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/25/us/obama-administration-calls-for-limits-on-testing-in-schools.html
This news about limiting testing in schools is a bit more mixed than some people seemed to think. First, 2% of time on standardized testing isn't that far off from what I've experienced here in Colorado: out of a 1080-hour school year, students might spend about 12 hours on state testing in the spring, 4 hours on another test in the fall, and maybe another 4 on a test like the ACT or a pre-ACT test. That's 20 hours, which is slightly less than 2% of 1080 hours. However, in some districts these tests are accompanied by all kinds of in-district tests which, while not required by the state or Department of Ed, still feel like an imposition on many teachers and students. So while the message that testing is important and necessary is still clearly being communicated by the Department of Education, proponents of less testing hope that there's a shift in tone away from the high-stakes use of testing we've had in the NCLB era.