INTRODUCTION: Standardized testing...... 1-2

High-Stakes testing......................................... 2-4

The stakes of “high-stakes” ..........................  4

Cheater, cheater!................................................. 0

Achieving Equity in assessment.................... 0

Authentic assessment ......................................  0

WORKS CITED PAGE.................................................. 0

Table 1-

TESTS BY STATE (HARRIS 8-13) ............................................  

Table 2-

COMMON LANGUAGES SPOKEN (SANDOVAL 184) ................  

     The alarm goes off at 6:00 AM. After I wipe the sleep from my eyes I put on a pot of coffee; I can feel my stomach tumble like an Olympic gymnast during a floor routine. I have been preparing for this very day for the past three months, and my life and future depend on the next couple hours ahead of me. I get into my car and drive to another high school. A school where the air condition is “under construction” and the temperature on the bank tower reads 89 degrees. I take a seat in a room with an over-population of other students with the same uncomfortable look of: “I don’t want to be here right now.” The proctor comes in and my mind goes blank, my hands begin to sweat, and I can almost feel my heart jump out of my chest. The proctor says, “Please take out your number two pencil.”

     No, I wasn’t about to sign away my soul away to the devil (even though I felt that way); I was taking a standardized test known as the ACT. Standardized tests can be taxing on those taking and administrating the test, but it is not a new phenomenon. Bubble sheets and number two pencils have been something I can remember even at a very young age. In fact, standardized testing dates back to the industrialization of America at the turn of the nineteenth century (Harris 1). This is when there was a need for educated employees that could read, write and perform mathematical functions. On the other hand, “high-stakes” testing takes stress to a whole new level when pressure is placed on the teachers, by the performance of their students. And, even though teachers want their students to perform well on standardized tests, those tests might be the very thing that keeps teachers from teaching again. High-Stakes testing is not only unfair but is not a reasonable way to measure both students’ and teachers’ performance and abilities.

                 High-Stakes Testing

     High stakes testing is said to be a “standardized tests whose results have powerful influences when used by school administrators, other officials, or employers to make decisions” (Woolfolk 602). This means that the scores of these tests may hold a student back a grade, or advance them to the next grade. Scores could also place students into special education programs or admittance to gifted and remedial classes. And, the results of these tests could also influence school funding, teacher bonuses, tenure and even firing administrators who worked at schools that continually did badly on the tests. (Woolfolk 532).

The “testing” aspect of standardized tests is being emphasized more than ever in the past. Because high-stakes testing is a standardized test, administration of the tests becomes a very important aspect. It must be administered to all persons in a distinct group, in the same exact way, under the very same conditions (Borich and Tombari 263).  Even if that means being crammed into a small room, with too many people, and a high temperature; each student is under identical circumstances. Looking at test score reports from standardized tests can seem complicating because they are “designed to provide as much information as possible on a single page” (McMillan 89). Most states have some form of standardized assessment, whether it be an exit exam, norm-referenced, and/or criterion referenced tests. Table 1- Norm-Referenced and Criterion-Referenced Tests Administered by State shows each state and the standardized tests that are given in each state. (Harris 8-13).

A licensed school psychologist, Dr. Joseph Harris, who has done widespread research on standardized tests says that just as the courts began to restrict standardized tests “taxpayers began to demand of their schools more accountability” (Harris 3). This is when the accountability movement started getting its popularity, and voters wanted hard proof of how effectively their children were being taught. Standardized testing seemed like a good idea and the ideal tool to assess students, and politicians began to promise more assessments by standardized tests. Since standardized tests are a reality, and it doesn’t seem like they are leaving anytime soon Dr. Harris gives tools to help children succeed at standardized tests. For adults, Harris suggests to help your child by: eliminating things that hinders performance, help him/her to become as strong as possible in the areas emphasized on the test, aid in nutrition, sleep, physical activity, emotions, to become answer sheet (bubble sheet) confident, help in taking notes, and the list of tips goes on and on (Harris 22).

     Dr. Eric Mackey, Superintendent of Schools in Jacksonville, Florida has some serious concerns about high-stakes testing. He says “school business is truly a busy business this time of year.” This is because after spring break, students will engage in ten days of high-stakes testing. School begins to surround itself around testing and crunching the information into the student’s heads. Mackey does see the importance of developing good test-taking skills but he believes that more importantly, we need to be teaching them to be good citizens. He believes that standardized testing is largely a school phenomenon, and is not even the most essential thing taught in school. The more valuable things that should be taught are:

“Teaching students how to think through a problem, how to discover facts and engineer solutions-these are important qualities. Teaching students to take responsibility for themselves and to own up to their mistakes; teaching them to develop life-long habits for healthy minds and bodies; teaching them to be loyal and dedicated Americans-these things are what school is all about” (Mackey 2).

But, the problem is that schools are being assessed by the test results, and therefore schools are “driven” by testing. And, by the time a student graduates high school he/she has spent more than “20 weeks taking formal, standardized tests” (Mackey 1).

         The Stakes of High-stakes Testing

“The more we learn about standardized testing, particularly in its high-stakes incarnation, the more likely we are to be appalled. And the more we are appalled, the more inclined we will be able to do what is necessary to protect our children from this monster in the schools” (Kohn 1).

     What is at stake in high-stakes testing? Well, there is a lot at stake. Teacher and administrators jobs are at stake, where students will be places is at stake, and student’s self-esteem is at stake.  Alfie Kohn, who was recently described by Time magazine as “perhaps the country’s most outspoken critic of education’s fixation on grades and test scores,” believes that these high-stakes tests are testing what is least important. Kohn gives a myriad of reasons why high-stakes testing is ruining our schools. He believes that sometimes the tests are simply just too hard; and that an ample amount of successful adults would “fail the high school exit exams used in many states” (Kohn 9). These test do not capture what most of us would consider material needed to know in order to be a well-educated human being.

     Standardized high-stakes testing are also timed test, which places a lot of stress of the speediness of the student. Speed becomes the key as opposed to diligence and thoughtfulness. Students are rushed through the test, and when time is close to being up, students are then supposed to make educated guesses (or fill in as many blank bubbles as you can).  Another problem with standardized testing is the frequency of them. Dr. Joseph Harris notes that in some states like Utah, Missouri and many others that students are tested almost every year starting in first until their senior year in high-school (Harris 14-19). Kohn does not feel that this is essential nor is it advantageous. This is an assumption which implies that all students learn at the same pace, and those who can not keep up to speed will be labeled failures and left in the dust. And, Kohn also states that testing young children has serious disadvantages when it comes to students below fourth grade. This is because it is hard to assess the depth of understanding of such a young person, and also because skills develop at different rates and levels, which is dangerous to have a “one-size-fits-all” teaching for young children (Kohn 13).

     Because high-stakes testing is relatively new there is little research to the effects of this form of testing. So, is this generation of students our test-bunnies? The research that is out there suggests that this approach isn’t all that successful thus far. According to Linda Darling-Hammond, a professor at Stanford University, “historically speaking high-stakes testing has failed wherever it has been tried” (Kohn 26). And, during the mid-1990’s states that did not assess through high-stakes did better on other standardized tests. Why, you may ask? Teachers who had to give high-stakes testing drastically change their teaching style. They had to teach “standards” and the teachers were basically turned into drill sergeants who wanted to drill the tested material into their heads. This took away from authentic learning and the importance of students playing an active role in their own education (Kohn 27). 

     Alfie Kohn gives 16 ways to stand-up against standardized testing: 1) voice your opinion every time the subject gets mentioned, attend school board meetings, write letters to school administrators or board members, get a group of concerned citizens together and visit the state legislators, write letters to local newspapers, print up bumper stickers with sayings like: “STANDARDIZED TESTING IS DUMBING DOWN OUR SCHOOL,” (Kohn 58) and many others that help to get your voice heard.

               CHEATER, CHEATER!

     With such high-stakes placed on standardized testing, it doesn’t seem improbable that cheating has occurred on these tests. And, cheating on high-stakes tests is not an isolated incident. In Houston, Texas a principal and three teachers resigned after evidence showed that they prompted students with answers on the test. Other areas including: New York, Kentucky, Rhode Island, and Connecticut all have “cases of test tampering or cheating” (Magnuson 1).

     If you were a teacher, and your job was on the line, would you teach? According to Robert Schaeffer of the National Center for Fair & open Testing says that:

          “In today’s environment, this type of thing     (cheating) will continue. When in that matter,    teachers, principles, and students will get their     results by hook or by crook. When the future depends           on one thing, people do unethical, irrational, and   illegal things” (Magnuson 2).

     One such irrational case is exemplified in the story of Mrs. Stacey Moscowitz a teacher from New York City.  Mrs. Moscowitz gave her students the answers to the New York City exams, which helped to boost the school’s academic standing. Looking back on the incident in an interview Mrs. Moscowitz had this to say: “I think about it now and I have, like, a lump in my throat. I was entrusted with these bright-eyed eight-year-olds, nine-year-olds, and I just feel like I betrayed them so badly” (Bowser 1). Over time Mrs. Moscowitz felt so guilty about what she had done that she turned herself in to Edward Stancik who is an investigator for the New York City School District. Mrs. Moscowitz had said that her former principal encouraged the cheating in order to raise schools achievement performance on paper. And, over an 18 month investigation Stancik found cheating in over 32 schools and that it “dramatically skewed student performance that the test was rendered all but meaningless” (Bowser 2).

     High-stakes testing is growing in popularity throughout the United States because they are looked at as a great way to assess students’ learning. However, they are also used to punish teachers and schools when students are not meeting standards.

       Achieving Equity in Assessment

     Think back for a second about the student in the introduction who was describing her experience with standardized testing. That student was actually me and I openly have a fear of standardized testing. I have no diagnosed disabilities, nor do I need any “special assistance” when it comes to standardized tests. But, I have such a high level of anxiety that it definitely reflects my test-taking. I also take a long time on tests because I favor thinking about the question critically, but am always rushed on standardized tests. Yet, as studious, over-achieving and my want to perform well, my capabilities are profoundly prohibited by my performance on standardized tests.

     There are so many factors that need to be taken into consideration for standardized tests. The United States is an extremely diverse place and culture dramatically effects testing. “For most English-language tests, a lack of English fluency may significantly affect test performance” (Sandoval 86). For example Hispanic examinees on the SAT found English homonyms and homographs extremely difficult but typically, but did better than Caucasion examinees on questions where terms were Spanish cognates. Table two at the end of the paper shows the 25 most common languages spoken at home in the United States. It doesn’t take long to figure out how diverse the U.S is and how different cultures and languages can inhibit non-native speakers on standardized testing.

     Diversity is not the only thing that makes equity in assessment hard to accomplish. Personal characteristics such as interests and motivation have a lot to do with it as well. If a student lacks the intrinsic and/or extrinsic motivation to achieve high results he/she simply won’t put forth the effort. “Interest is likely to be associated with incidental learning, which may take place outside the classroom” (Sandoval 87). In order to have equity in assessment there must be more than one way to assess students. If a student does horrible on a test be can’t (as teachers) label that student as “a failure.” Rather, we need to find other ways to assess learning. How does that student behave in class? How does he/she interact with others? How much effort does he/she put into homework, projects, and other aspects in the classroom? Encouraging students to respect, do their best, and be accountable for their actions should be a higher-valued assessment then a correctly-answered-bubble-sheet. We should be creating communities of learning and doing authentic assessments.

   The Importance of Authentic Assessment

            There are much more important aspects of school that needs to be emphasized than test-taking skills. By putting so much pressure on the out-come of a test we are in an essence giving people incentives to teach. In desperate situations people can take desperate measures. Not only that but students for example in Chicago deliberately failed the test as a form of rebellion. High-stakes standardized testing is not a fair assessment on how students will perform in school. I went to school with a kid named David who had an incredibly high IQ and scored off the charts when it came to standardized tests. So, he went on to college, got his doctorate, and become a top surgeon? NO! He failed almost every subject in school and barely passed high school because he absolutely hated school. I on the other hand did average on standardized tests and put all my energy into school and became Valedictorian in high school.

Borich, and Martin L. Tombari. Educational Assessment for the Elementary and Middle

School Classroom. New Jersey: Pearson, 2004.

Bowser, Betty Ann. Cheating Teachers. 26 April 2000

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/education/jan-june00/teachers_4-26.html

Harris, Dr. Joseph. What every Parent needs to know about Standardized Tests: How to

understand the Tests and Help your Kids Score High! New York: McGraw-Hill,

2002.

Hart, Diane. Authentic Assessment: A Handbook for Educators. New York: Addison

Wesley, 1994.

Kohn, Alfie. The Case Against Standardized Testing: Raising the Scores, Ruining the

 Schools. New Hampshire: Heinemann, 2000. 

Mackney, Dr. Eric. Let’s Talk Seriously about Standardized Testing. 19 January 2006

<http://www.jaxnews.com/news/2006/jn-localnews-0119-0-6a19o5233.htm>

Magnuson, Peter. High-Stakes Cheating. February 2000

<http://www.naesp.org/ContentLoad.do?contentId=151>.

McMillan, James H. Classroom Assessment: Principles and Practice for Effective

Instruction. New York: Pearson, 2004.

Meier, Deborah. In Schools We Trust: Creating Communities of Learning in an era of

Testing and Standardization. Boston: Beacon Press, 2002.

Popham, James W. Classroom Assessment: What Teachers Need to Know. New York:

Pearson, 2005.

Sandoval, J. et al. Test Interpretation and Diversity. Washington: American

Psychological Association, 1998.

Woolfolk, Anita. Educational Psychology. New York: Pearson, 2004.

Contact: Cortney Nagler

Last updated: 03/29/2008

IMPORTANT NOTE: This Site contains links to third-party Web sites that are not under the control of College of Saint Mary. CSM makes no representations whatsoever about any other Web site to which you may have access through this Site.