State test scores fall -- so what?

I think the Howard County Superintendent of Schools got it right when she said, "There's not a whole lot of utility in them...It's just one data point." (Baltimore Sun) When politicians, journalists and business people start making a big deal of test scores, I want to say this: Do you really think it's appropriate to judge teachers' effectiveness based exclusively on what 13-year olds answer on a test? We are fortunate in Maryland to have a common sense approach to teaching. I'm glad this article didn't jump on the teacher-bashing bandwagon.
http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2013-07-23/news/bs-md-test-scores-20130723_1_new-curriculum-test-sc...
My next point is something I've noted from my own little data analysis, which has never been mentioned (to my knowledge). When my school moved from the paper-and-pencil tests to the computerized tests, our student scores plummeted. I'm just curious if this movement to online testing could also explain some of what we've seen in Maryland -- in addition to the possible misalignment of the curriculum to the test.