High Stakes Testing : Is It More Than Just Numbers And Test Scores? Essay

Students dread the time of the year when they stop with their course material and begin to prepare for test. Everyone is in agreement that some type of revolution is needed when it comes to education; eliminating standardized test will aid the reform. The need for standardized testing has proven to be ineffective and outdated; some leading educationalist also believe this because the tests do not measure a student’s true potential. This will save money, stop labeling, and alleviate stress in students and teachers.

English language learners enrollment in the Council member districts has remained relatively stable over the past several years. In 2007-08, 1.1 million ELLs were enrolled in urban schools, accounting for 16.5 percent of total district enrollment. In 2009–10, 1.2 million ELLs were enrolled, accounting for 17.5 percent of total district enrollment (Uro & Barrio, p. 26, 2013). The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 required students in grades three through eight to be tested every year in reading and math. While NCLB now holds educators more accountable with student learning, it now also tests English language learners (ELLs) in content areas (Coltrane, 2002, p.1). This denotes a question of validity and reliability with assessment. The

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.

James S. Murphy wrote about how the SAT is a high Stakes evaluation of enormous magnitude in which colleges use to analyze the readiness and skills of high school students. Some students are not financial stable to pay tutors or discover other resources that enable them to get adequate scores on the various exams. These rigorous exams act as a subject course other than showing students abilities through their academic achievements in high school, something where colleges rather judge students on their SAT to determine if their good enough to attend college. The College Board are now proposing a program named Khan Academy; which better equip students to be prepared and comfortable taking exams under pressure, which allow the programs offer varies

A phenomenological study will be utilized to determine the perceptions of those veteran teachers affected by the high-stakes testing. This type of qualitative methodology is appropriate for the problem of high-stakes testing because it demonstrates the shared lived experiences of a particular segment of the population. With that, it proves that experience is a conscious process and shows a development of a consensus of ideas from a particular group of individuals. Furthermore, there is a great desire to acquire a better understanding of the phenomena. As a result, interviews will be conducted to determine the perceptions of veteran teachers that have been affected by the event of high-stakes testing.

In the cartoon with the teacher telling the student to get back to work or she will be left behind used exaggeration to show how that the author feels about testing in schools. Students are at their desks with blinders and tubes connecting to their head feeding them information and keeping them focused. Although, everything in the classroom is black and white outside the window it is luminous. As the girl looks outside there is a P.E sign and a mountain that says science along with the bright sun shining. Then, the teacher is telling the girl to go back to work or she will be left behind ,and the kids says “sounds good to me.” Exaggeration is used to indicate that schools are solely focused on testing. The tubes that are connected to the kids

With the many scandals out there in regards to high-stakes tests, teachers should be fully aware of specific actions that could possibly cause them to lose their license, additionally; if teachers are in fact participating in dishonest behavior or cheating on high-stakes tests they deserve what’s coming to them. At most schools, teachers are required to attend security meetings before they can administer a high-stakes test. As teachers, we always hold our students to high expectations; therefore we should hold ourselves to high standards. We are role models to the students that we serve and should conduct ourselves professionally at all time.

Literature instruction in our current “high stakes” test-driven education culture presents teachers with a challenging task. Jeffrey Wilhelm’s progression from a teacher influenced by the New Criticism approach to reading into one that emphasizes more of a reader-response approach serves as a guideline on how I might teach literature. How might Mr. Wilhelm’s account influence how I will guide a class?

Sample – A common noun that is not exclusively used in science, a sample is a small piece or group that is representative of a larger whole. For example, my job requires that I analyze samples of data like groups of students or certain schools to make inferences that help me make decisions for the entire district. Sherman Dorm (2012) uses the word in his educational blog: “When my son’s preschool teachers in the late 1990s cut up samples of almost a dozen types of fruit for his class to try, was that play or academics?” While this example is not used in terms of research; it does, however, convey the understanding that a sample is a small piece of a larger whole. That said, in my research on high-stakes testing, I expect

The third strategy to effectively use data is to continually assess students and modify instruction based on ongoing results. Lewis et al. (2010) suggested that it does not matter how much data a school

When it comes to preparing for and taking tests there are many myths. There are also many different ways to prepare yourself for success. During the course of this paper we will discuss the myths of studying for a test, time management, how to reduce test anxiety, and the different types of tests and tips on how to take them.

There are several reasons to use statistics when making data-driven decisions in education. This analysis explains the opportunities for using statistics in the classroom as well as in meetings both within the building and district wide. The questions that will be addressed regarding data-driven decisions include: What statistical data can you compare?; How does the analysis of the collected statistical data help educators make data-driven decisions?; and, Who can you share the information with?

So, the data dashboard initiative with the help of RTT-D grant helps school leaders in this purpose. The wealth of information in the dashboard and the synthesis of that information on the customized dashboard significantly strengthen teachers’ ability to determine the most appropriate learning recommendations for every student. Students have anytime access to their learning profiles, which are instantly updated whenever they have taken a quiz, completed a problem set, submitted an assignment and received a grade or comments. Teachers use this information to determine personalized learning recommendations. This dashboard also provides all of our stakeholders with the critical information they need to effectively interpret and act on data in order to keep them on track to student, school, and district-wide goals. The dashboard with its easy access also provides transparency among all stakeholders. Improving the existing data systems by building out the charter districts’ Data System and developing customized Data Dashboards to provide real-time data to inform the first two strategies (and our system more broadly), and to support students in setting goals and creating personal learning plans.

High-stakes testing has been so controversial that students, parents, and even teachers have protested the tests. One such student who boycotted his school's tests was Andrew King, a 15-year-old student from Cambridge, Massachusetts, who says, "I don't think kids should have their whole future based on the results of one test." (Nagourney, 2) This request seems reasonable, considering the consequences of scoring poorly in today's system. Although with exams now being a graduation requirement, very few kids can afford to continue to boycott the tests. Jackie Dee King who works for the Center for Fair and Open Testing, and Andrew's mother, agrees with her son's decision. "Of course, we want the education system to have high standards and to have school systems be held accountable. We believe in that-but we don't believe this is the way to do it." (Nagourney, 2) Many other parents have supported their children's choice to opt-out of their school's tests. Some are so desperate, they are willing to go as far as citing religious freedom in the Constitution's 14th Amendment to avoid the tests. Specifically, "What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow man. This is the law." Most teachers and parents have opted-out in the more traditional way, by holding rallies and boycotts. Scrap the MAP was a boycott held by both teachers and parents in Seattle, and they were successful. And "Recent rallies at state capitol and opting-out protests have taken place...Grassroots parent

Share your experiences with the administration of high stakes testing of your students, students in a classroom you observed, or your own children. What is the attitude of the students? Do you think this or other situational factors could have influenced scores? What was the role of teachers or administrators in these factors?