High-stakes testing has been questionable since it began in England in 1983. Positives and negatives of this testing continues to loom as new results surface. In England, high-stakes testing became available to the public in 1992 which positively impacted parent’s choice of schools as well as the low achieving schools who were forced to improve. As the positive results of Englands educational system swept across Europe, the United States became aware of the lack of education amongst its youth. This awareness brought on the No Child Left Behind Act in 2002 which required public schools to test students annually and held schools accountable for their learning or lack of learning. As we move on we will explore the positives and negatives of high-stakes testing and what the critics say about these tests.
High-stakes testing has three main focuses,
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As these ideas and goals sound appealing, researchers have found many negative gaps in the system as well as positive. In a study conducted in Chicago Illinois, researchers found that teachers have feared that if their students do not pass they will be eliminated from their jobs as well as their counterparts. Due to this fear, teachers have spent more time on teaching subject areas such as math and reading and less time on subject areas such as social sciences and art. By reducing the amount of time in these subject areas, the teachers are eliminating aspects of learning like creativity which is vital in our web-based world today. Studies have shown that students who master art are more likely to succeed in other academic areas than those who do not. Other issues that have arisen is