1. What are some important steps in interpreting data from high stakes assessments? In order to make assessment data useful teachers must understand what information is being reported and determine if additional information is necessary to understand student performance. Specifically, for assessment results for students with disabilities, teachers would have to identify what accommodations were being used.
(43). Berger gives some insight on what she thinks is the best way to invest in education. She states that she would reduce and adjust how often the standardize tests are and that parents are the ones that need to get involved in their kids’ lives for their children to succeed. Through this information not only students will see the damage that teaching to the test has done, but also the damage to society. The society needs to understand the importance of challenging a student in their education and not letting a student’s simply go through the phase of higher
In “Testing in Schools,” an article published in 2001 by Kenneth Jost, an author for Supreme Court Yearbook and The Supreme Court From A to Z on CQ Press develops understanding standardized testing from grades 3rd-8th. Jost establishes the history behind standardized testing including the popular No Child Left Behind law passed in 2001 by President Bush, the supporter for testing he gives credit to John A. Boehner and non-supporters for testing by Robert C. Scott. Definitely, there’s useful background information to outline through the history of problems with standardized testing. However, Jost reveals the pros and cons of standardized testing. In addition,Jost provides statistics with visuals, surveys and a timeline that tie into the information
I applaud the American Evaluation Association (AEA) in taking a strong stance on the deleterious effects of high stakes testing, especially going so far as to promulgate their reasons and concerns. It is obvious from the statement that the AEA supports the importance of testing and accountability in improving education, but finds the current testing manipulation environment to be harmful for any positive improvements in education. Specifically, how the monolithic testing focus has increased dropout rates, created cultural insensitivity, turned the community against teachers and administrators, and driven curriculum writing with a myopic focus, of teaching to the test. In addition, the AEA highlights other adverse effects of narrowing the focus
Valerie Strauss is attempting to challenge schools who are offering incentives to students who participate in and take standardized tests. Writing this article at the height of standardized testing last spring, Strauss states that “as school districts around the country get ready to launch into their annual spring testing season, [incentivizing of testing] is happening again.” (Strauss) One main idea is that schools are using incentives to encourage students to take the standardized tests. Strauss cites Colorado and New York as major culprits, giving examples of elaborate rallies schools host in order to boost exam attendance and participation.
This book takes place in the spring of 1975, and in the state of New Hampshire. The town is quite, and everyone knew one another since they were little children. The characters were mostly seniors in high school, so they had those old cell phones. Most teenagers thought it was cool to drink and smoke, and to party all night. Jocelyn and Gabe had jobs at a breakfast diner where everyone hung out and met up with friends.
Many researchers analyze pros and cons of high stakes testing. The majority of these studies focus on the effects the tests have on graduation rates across The United States. These tests results are also used in many other different ways such as; educational purposes such as, parents using them to see whether their children are making educational progress, and also policymakers use them for different sources. These sources may include people giving test to see progress in jobs. The majority of the research focuses on the educational approach of high stakes tests.
In my opinion, public educational curriculums and accountability guidelines should be established at the state and local levels where parents/guardians play an integral role in the decision making process. I do not believe standardized tests alone are an accurate measure of a student’s knowledge; their classwork, projects, and literary works also represent a student’s talent and capabilities. In agreement with Robert Schaeffer, a representative for the National Center for Fair & Open Testing, that federal mandated programs such as the No Child Left Behind and The Race to The Top high-stakes tests foster the temptation to cheat because they serve as means to both punish and reward students, teachers, and principals based solely upon test scores (Schaeffer,
Ever since the first American schools were established in the 17th century, millions of students have been enrolled in the public schooling system since then. However, since the years have passed, the main focus on schooling has been shifted. What once was a place to learn and build upon already acquired knowledge has turned into a setting of extravagant tests. The American public schooling system’s prioritization of standardized testing wastes classroom time, does not teach students the required life skills they need to succeed in life, causes unhealthy stress and is not an accurate measurement of student progress.
He put great emphases on the real-world and the ethical associations of standardized tests and the research of pre-examination of educators as they communicate to the pupil calculation and course enactment. He also put forth an effort to discover resolutions to the difficulties educators and potential educators come across on an educational level with concerns to standardized testing. He offers information concerning teacher preparation programs and the teacher as a leader. He also gives some insight on curriculum, instruction, testing, transnational analysis, assessment, and ethics. Within this work the author explain why it is unethical to associate testing deprived of considering the work of the classroom, scholar education styles, and different procedures of recital.
The article entitled “The effects of high-stakes testing on elementary school art, music, and physical education.” was written for the Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance in 2002. This article discusses the effects that art, music, and physical education (AMPE) have on an elementary schoolers ability to perform well on a standardized measure of learning. This article showed the effects on elementary schools in Virginia and how well students performed on the Virginia’s Standards of Learning tests (SOL). This article is applicable to elementary education because teachers can observe the effect AMPE have on children and use that to adapt their teaching style, even if they are not teaching AMPE. The article is effective in its purpose
If the students take standardized tests, the national academic standards can be maintained and necessary federal aid gets sanctioned to the region with no hindrance. Moreover, the standardized tests serve as an important tool to keep up the equality in the society by closing the achievement gap between different communities. On the other hand, the authority should also find ways to solve the disconnection between classroom teaching and question framing methods to help the students to score better in standardized
This is a key part in schools today because it’s enforcing a higher bar of achievement for teachers and students (Catapano, 2018). Implementing standards into a school system that are internationally benchmarked means all states and countries have a way of measuring their academic performance. They can use this also as a tool to compile scores and understand the weaknesses to improve students’ knowledge. This provides teachers with various ways to assess their students more frequently through observations and informal assessments to understand the student’s comprehension level of the lesson material. It will help the teachers to strive to improve her test scores by adapting lesson materials to the needs of each
Moreover, high stake testing has force teachers to cut out essential elements of the curriculum t required to make well-rounded learners. Currently, 42% percent of teachers stated “high-stakes testing has restricted their creativity to teach which has negatively affected the student learning environment” (Walker, 2014). Because of this result parents are expressing their concerns that school
School rankings are important and taken very seriously, especially in public schools. The higher a school ranks; the more advantages it gains. The government provides high ranking schools with funds or subsidies to help obtain new facilities, advanced technology, and more professionally experienced teachers. If students of a specific school do not achieve certain criterion that raises the school’s ranking, then the school will not gain the benefits of funds or subsidies that are provided by the government. To prevent this failure from becoming a reality, teachers will try and “teach to the test”.
