High-Stakes Testing In Schools

The Department of Education concludes that high-stakes testing and statewide standards puts too strain on both the teacher and student. Multiple studies show evidence of miscalculation of scores, teachers being blamed for low test score, and too much time spent on preparation for the tests. The purpose of this policy brief is to elaborate on the non-beneficial components of high-stakes testing and statewide standards. Thus, peer-reviewed research articles and evidential articles are reviewed on high-stakes testing and statewide standards. In addition, the state of Florida has shown the greatest amount of dissatisfied outcomes. The information provided in this policy brief will precisely indicate why high-stakes testing and statewide standards should be abandoned from the school system. I request the action of Congress to outlaw high-stakes testing and statewide standards for the betterment of all National citizens by passing a new law to force states away from standardized testing.

The stress settled in once the word ‘testing’ echoed through the classroom. The students knew what it brought, and they knew how dreadful it would be; sitting in one room, hour after hour and day after day, silent and still, with only the sound of the clock resonating through their heads. Standardized tests are assessments that local and national governments may require their students to take. However, these tests do not properly evaluate their intellect, and only lead to tension and mental strain on a student’s attentiveness. Although many schools believe that these assessments are productive, it is proven that they are not beneficial to students because standardized testing leads to stress and anxiety, it is wasting valuable classroom time,

High Stakes Testing has been overly integrated in the education systems. High-stakes testing are used to determine grade retention, school curriculum, and whether or not students will receive a high school diploma (Myers, 2015). Since the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001, high stakes testing has become the norm and mandating that students must pass a standardized test before moving up in grade. As a special education director, the focus is to ensure the student’s accommodations are being followed. Accommodations help increase students’ academic performance. “Both the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA) of 2004 and No Child Left Behind (NCLB) call for students with disabilities to participate in the general education curriculum and in testing programs to the maximum extent possible for each student (Luke and Schwartz, 2010).” Throughout the years, high stakes testing is becoming more common than ever before. The reality is high stakes testing is one indicator in evaluating children with specific needs. This paper will discuss, the violation of the statutory language regarding assessment based on IDEA, the strategies and goals of a remediation, staff training, common Core and PARCC assessment, and funding for the remediation plan under IDEA.

Many people in the United States are concerned with the role that standardized testing has on education. Most of them have very strong views on this subject and as it usually happens with large-scale issues these views are very diverse and often opposite. Some claim that standardized testing is the best way to determine student’s skills and qualities because they are equally designed for everyone and not biased. Others, on the other hand, argue the fairness of these tests. They believe that test scores do not represent student’s knowledge. What is certain, in my opinion, is that this subject needs more attention followed by actions that will actually make difference in the education system.

In this age of high-stakes standardized testing the idea of creativity in the classroom has become less and less popular. Susan W. Cress and Daniel T. Holm present a compelling case study for keeping creativity in the classroom in “Creative Endeavors: Inspiring Creativity in a First Grade Classroom” published online April 1, 2015 in the Early Childhood Education Journal.

“Persistent school segregation does not only mean that children of different racial and ethnic backgrounds attend different schools, but their schools are also unequal in their performance” (Logan, Minca, and Adar, 2012, p. 40). Although segregation is not done intentionally, the negative effects of this are seen in urban school districts. This is evident in high stakes test scores and the graduation rates when compared to their suburban peers. This paper will argue that the schools themselves, including teachers, are a piece of the puzzle that continues to spread inequality in our urban educational system.

While America’s educational community is emerged in discussing the No Child Left Behind Act, high stakes testing, and what these new versions of old ideas actually mean for the larger society, the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) 2005 report shows that African-American males continue to spiral further down the achievement ladder. They are not thriving or surviving in many school settings. They have been flagged by Statistics as the highest rank among students who choose to leave school; are suspended, expelled, or kicked out of school. Unfortunately, the same is also true when it comes to poor test scores, low GPAs and high rates of referral and placement in special education. In stark contrast, African-American males are underrepresented in gifted education (NCES, 2005; Whiting, 2004; as cited in (Whiting, 2006, p. 222).

Cizek, Gregory J. "More Unintended Consequences of High-Stakes Testing." Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice 20.4 (2005): 19-27. Google Scholar. Web. 8 Mar. 2017. This source explores the negative critiques of standardized testing from within the education profession. The history of high stakes tests is described to provide background information on how testing practices have evolved. Various consequences addressed include: reduction of instruction time, neglect of teaching material not covered by the tests, instruction and assessment mirroring the tests, and negative effects on teacher morale and creativity. Cizek also takes time to address the time commitment of test taking. While multiple hours spent on one test is necessary in

Testing Our Schools was discussing the controversial topic of the newly introduced state testing that President Bush was trying to pass. President Bush was calling for higher standards in the academic world and wanted to hold schools and teachers accountable for the materials they are teaching students. This act would be known as “No Child Left Behind.” These standards where called “standards of learning” or SOLs. The documentary went to schools in Virginia to ask teacher how they felt about the standards that would be implanted in their schools. Many of the teachers seemed in favor because it gave them a guide on what to teach and how to teach the subjects. However, other teachers at schools in low income neighborhoods were opposed to the testing because students faced certain obstacles that would hinder true test score results. Many of America’s business sector was in favor of having this program in place because it made sure students were learning the information that would be needed later on in life. Although, these standardize test came with some glaring issues that made standards of learning a controversial topic among American society. Many people believed that the test were not an accurate indicator of a students true intelligence and the margin of error on these tests left many students being misclassified. The belief was, students were not actually learning the material but rather the main focus was to teach these students how to pass a test. These test sometimes

As a result of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) states are required to annually test students in 3rd through 8th grade to determine whether schools are making adequate yearly progress (AYP). Schools that fail to meet the standard are required to enter into improvement programs (Kubiszyn & Borich, 2012). The threat of a school being placed on an improvement program makes a high-stakes testing (HST) program like NCLB controversial because failure brings federal sanctions. The effort to avoid federal sanctions has resulted in states lowering the required passing scores for students and accusations of “teaching to the test” (Kubiszyn & Borich, 2012). Opponents of HST argue that “teaching to the test” has raised test scores without teaching the critical thinking skills that are most necessary in the real

A new PDK/Gallup poll shows that most Americans oppose nationwide Common Core tests, and view other criteria such as engagement with classwork and feedback about school more important than performance in standardized testing in measuring the effectiveness of schools.

An exit examination is a test that students must pass to receive a diploma and graduate from high school in the United States. These are usually criterion­ referenced tests which were implemented as part of a comprehensive standards­ based education reform program which sets into place new standards intended to increase the learning of all students. When any test is directly tied to significant consequences, such as determining whether the student may receive a high school diploma, it is called a high­ stakes test. Many organizations such as the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics oppose high­ stakes tests in general, with the NCTM saying that "placing too much emphasis on a single test or on testing can undermine the quality of education and jeopardize equality of

Under the current policy of No Child Left Behind, standards and assessments rest tightly at the national education policy, and remain the strongest force on policy and practice. However, despite the important role of high-stakes testing in the effort to improve America’s public education system, there have been numerous effects on schools, teachers, and students.

High stakes testing have been a part of public education in the United States since the passage of No Child Left Behind (2002), and more recently other countries like India are adopting similar high stakes test in the hopes to increase student learning and to be accountable to the larger public regarding the effectiveness of public education system. The paper utilizes the theories of John Hattie (2012) and visible learning outcomes to try and understand the effects of standardized testing in public schools from the perspectives of teachers. The research shall solely focus on public schools and the effects of standardized testing in curriculum and practice of day-to-day education. It shall use the various aspects of learning highlighted by Hattie (2012) in his work to discover how testing has affected education, especially in relation to children from lower income households. This research intends to uncover how teachers perceive standardized testing and how it impacts various groups of students. Through the interviews and focus groups with the teachers currently working in education, the hopes to find what teachers perceive are the most effective practices in the current model of testing. This cross case study will include one elementary school in Virginia and one in Andhra Pradesh. The analysis across the cases will showcases how teachers in two similar cases that shall differ on their perceptions of the influence of high stakes testing on students. The findings can help

Koretz take the readers on a journey in his book to talk about through the most fundamental issues that arise in educational testing and shows how they apply to some of the most controversial issues in education today, from high stakes testing to special education. He talks about everyday examples to show what tests do well, what their limits are and how easily tests and scores can be oversold or misunderstood, and how they put a lot of stress on school, teachers and students because that is what you would use to judge how