High Stakes Standardize Testing

1. High Stakes Standardize Testing The Damages they Cause in our Schools By: Katie Keck

2. What is high stakes testing? • Result of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) • Standardized with vital consequences attached. • All students take the same test • Same questions • Equal conditions • Scored the same way

3. The Purpose • Teachers will work more effectively • Students will be more motivated • Schools will run more smoothly • Academic achievement will be greater • Benefits minority student and student from poverty.

4. The Downfalls • Teachers/students feel pressure to do well • Student are caught cheating • Teachers teach to the test • More students drop out or get held back • Many tests are too heavily weighted • Some states require students to pass a standardized test to graduate now

5. Unfair to Students • Test anxiety equals lower and inaccurate results • Poorly funded schools don’t get a fair chance • Students with learning disabilities fail more than mainstream kids. • Students have no control over a failing system

6. Grade retention and drop out rates • Amplified grade retention and drop out rates • Grade retention is counterproductive • Student that are held back lose interest in learning and are more likely to drop out • Student who are faced with a standardized test for graduation are more likely to drop out.

7. Teaching to the test • Teachers are under pressure like students • Teachers focus on what is on the test and nothing else • Many subjects are ignored and not taught • Reading on high stakes tests are not realistic • Teachers are being trained to be “test coaches” • Teaching to the test discourages students from learning.

8. Tests and the Misinformed Public • Public supports testing because of misleading results • Teaching to the test gives inaccurate scores • Public believes schools are improving when they are not • Testing does not include non-academic areas • Test results do not take into account non-school related factors.

9. How to Measure Success • All factors, including tests should be taken into consideration • Tests should be a part of the system not the entire system • Make testing fair to all students who take them • Fair opportunities to everyone • One test should not determine a student’s academic future

10. Appropriate Ways to Test • Testing can be a good thing • Most resourceful way to obtain information • A test should not measure a school or teachers performance • A student’s future should not be based on a test score • The purpose of the test results should be stated clearly • Special arrangements should be made for students with special needs • Students should be tested on necessary skills.

11. Resources • Haladyna, T. M. (2006). Perils of Standardized Achievement Testing. Educational Horizons. 85(1), 30-43. • Neill, M. (2006). Preparing Teachers to Beat the Agonies of NCLB. The Education Digest. 71(8), 8-12. • Nichols, S. L., & Berliner, D. C. (2008). Why Has High Stakes Testing So Easily Slipped into Contemporary American Life? The Education Digest. 74(4), 41-7.