"Garrison's analysis of the political origins and impact of standardized tests provides an important look at their current use and misuse.... Here is an important book worthy of careful consideration. Highly recommended."

— R. Roth, emerita, Rockhurst University (Choice, June 2010).

“Both original and provocative, A Measure of Failure is a compelling account of the historical and contemporary relationship between standardized testing in education and processes of state formation.”

— Thomas C. Pedroni, author of Market Movements: African American Involvement in School Voucher Reform

"While most school-based administrators are daily affected by state driven accountability-testing regimes, Garrison takes the time to go back and explore the origins of the rise of measurement in education. The Latin term, deus ex machina, often represents a technological sleight of hand used by playwrights to extricate actors and scripts out of sticky positions...The point being made by Garrison, although not in these words, is that the community has been conned by the deus ex machina, an implied precision and purpose, which is not what it seems. I enjoyed reading this book, twice."

— Neil MacNeill, Educational Leadership, Curtin University of Technology, Austraila

"By most accounts, a majority of the current generation of administrators and legislators has unwittingly bought into the mythology of standardized testing — which is why "A Measure of Failure" will be required reading in my graduate testing and assessment class next semester. Maybe, just maybe, we can prevent the next generation from succumbing to the same delusions.

— Aaron W. Hughey, Department of Counseling and Student Affairs, Western Kentucky University