The Nclb 's Testing Policy

In her article, “Stop Blaming Teachers”, Anne Perrin points out the pressures currently facing teachers in the public education systems. Pressures brought on by programs such as No Child Left Behind and standardized testing, the results of which determine many schools’ funding. Perrin, a teacher in the state of Texas, has personally experience these plights. Teachers are browbeat with threats of humiliation and intervention into pandering to students. Perrin points out, “If a student knows he/she can make up an assignment four weeks late, why rush? Would you?” (pg 58). Perrin’s article connects the intimidation brought on by administrative and/or governmental requirements and the teachers acquiescing to preparing the students to take the tests. Failure to do so results in unfavorable

“…only twenty-two percent of those surveyed said increased testing had helped the performance of their local schools compared with twenty-eight in 2007” (“Public Skeptical of Standardized Testing.”). Furthermore the poll indicated an eleven percent increase, compared to last year, towards the favor of discontinuing the usage of students’ test results for teacher evaluations. William Bushaw, executive director of PDK International and co-director of PDK/Gallup Poll also stated, “Americans’ mistrust of standardized tests and their lack of confidence and understanding around new education standards is one the most surprising developments we’ve found in years” (“Public Skeptical of Standardized Testing.”). All in all, not only are these tests a concern for students, who are forced to sit through them, hoping to get a decent enough score to place into a class, receive their diploma, or even get accepted to the college of their dreams, but they are a concern for parents as well, who only want the best for their children and to see them succeed.

After the implementation of the “No Child Left Behind Act” high risk standardized testing has become a pressure cooker of corruption in the United States due to often unrealistic expectations, abundant incentives, and harsh punishments placed upon educators and administrators, overall resulting in the essential need for reform. The concept that every student’s academic ability can be assessed by a single universal exam is a misguided notion.

Another theme presented in multiple articles was a rise in cheating. Source number one, “Do Standardized Tests Show an Accurate View of Students’ Abilities”, believes that because the push to do well on standardized tests is such a priority, “some institutions consider cheating” (Concordia University). Source number two, “Is the Use of Standardized Test Improving Education in America,” disagrees, explaining that cheating by administrators and students is not an issue, and not a reason to terminate standardized testing. This source also clarifies that “[i]t is likely that some cheating occurs, but some people cheat on their tax returns also, and the solution is not to abolish taxation” (Standardized Tests - ProCon.org). Source number three, “Test Our Children Well”, proposes a solution that by using the “testing effect”, “teachers could develop new tests questions each week for each class…” (Emanuel 10) and by doing so, will eliminate the opportunity for student to cheat on exams.

State-mandated standardized testing has lately become a monster to be feared by students from the beginning of their school career. According to well respected educational author Alfie Kohn, “[…] Most of today’s discourse about education has been reduced to a crude series of monosyllables: Test scores are too low. Make them go up” (Kohn 1). Why all the testing? Some is to meet the federal government requirements, some to meet state requirements, some for the district and some for the school, and still more tests are given simply to help students prepare for the ones already mentioned. So much testing has reduced time for instructors to actually teach. In addition, many of the tests neglect to cover all important material,

In the contemporary American education system high-stakes standardized testing has resulted in a focus on extensive test preparation, as well as a large increase in the numbers of teachers cheating by alternating their students' test scores. Both these phenomena are a direct consequence of the incentives and punishments directly linked to standardized test results.

With cheating scandals becoming a reoccurring problem across the country, several states are rushing to put into place new testing etiquette before classes resume. In New York Education Commissioner, John B. King Jr., fabricated a task force last month to review all characteristics of student assessments. The Commissioner will be broadcasting a series of procedures to guarantee the integrity of our testing system before our students return to school in September. Specific measures haven 't been announced, but state officials said they want

State Mandated test has a negative impact on teachers and their careers . Seventy two percent of “teachers felt moderate to extreme pressure from their school and administrators to improve

The NCLB Act has obligated the government to find a way to keep track of progress, which, in their minds, is administering high-stakes tests. High-stakes testing is scrutinized all the time, since some believe it is the only indicator of tracking students and teachers. They seemed to have been ridiculed by many and favored by few; nonetheless there are significant disparities in the public’s and government’s opinion. According to Dunne (2000), “Tests aren't just tests anymore -- at least not high-stakes tests, which are being used in some states to determine which students stay back a grade, which high school seniors receive diplomas, which teachers get bonuses, and more.”

Cheating can be a common routine in a classroom—from copying work on homework to copying answers on a test. “Cheating by teachers and administrators on standardized tests is rare, and not a reason to stop testing America's children” (Standardized Tests). This statement is proved false by the fact that thirty-seven states have been caught cheating by

The first part of the chapter is about teachers that cheat, and the incentives that they have to cheat. In 1996, Chicago Public Schools started to require their schools to administer high-stakes testing every school year. A school with really low test scores would face

One of the most substantial and consequential reforms in education has been the nationwide adoption of standards-based accountability policies that use high-stakes standardized tests to evaluate the progress of students, the ability of teachers, and the effectiveness of schools {Dee:2011cl, Jacob:2005bm, Cohen:2009wl}. Since their inception in the late 1990s, high-stakes tests have been subject to much controversy. Researchers have uncovered various efforts by schools and districts to “game the system,” including discouraging low-performing students from taking the test {Heilig:2008hb}, targeting resources and attention to students near proficiency cutoffs {BooherJennings:2005bz, Neal:2010ut}, narrowing curricula to tested subjects {Au:2007ja, Koretz:2009ta}, even increasing students’ caloric intake on test days {Figlio:2005bp} and out-and-out cheating {Jacob:2003cd}. Moreover, teachers and administrators have criticized the policy, echoing concerns over a lack of resources, narrowed

Some public school activists attribute teachers’ cheating scandals to the high expectations of standardized tests. Across the country, educators and parents have participated in protests against heavy reliance on standardized test scores in deciding a teacher or school’s success.

Popham (2001) questioned the ethics of teachers overly concerned with students’ performance on high-stakes tests by providing instruction that cloned test questions or by teaching the same items that were expected to dominate tests. Popham also firmly stated that test prep, inappropriate test preparation and questionable teaching practices should be stopped. Even when teachers recognized a lack of integrity, the score-boosting pressure that teachers experienced pushed them toward practices that, without such pressure, they would regard as a disservice to students.

In what follows I first provide a history and explanation of the NCLB act. As well as the thinking behind this piece of legislation. Then, I show how the NCLB’s rules and standardized testing are destructive to teaching. Finally, I argue how the act is leading to the overall downfall of our educational system.