High Stakes Testing in Schools

I’ve been talking to other teachers about high stakes testing and how they feel it affects our school and our classes. I’ll share the questions I asked and the answers I gave. Feel free to share your point of view below.

The interview.

How much time is spent in testing?

We have a total of 4 tests, 3 that the district uses for assessment and one that the state uses.

How does the school use high stakes assessments?

They are used to see how students are progressing, assess how teachers are improving, and how schools rank in the district as a whole.

Are teachers teaching to the test?

Teachers are not encouraged or expected to teach to the test. It’s more important that the students get a quality education, however, the test is heavily considered in deciding how to teach students.

Are rewards or bonuses given to teachers whose students score high?

No. Teachers are encouraged to do their best, but there are no incentives for great scores.

Are students required to pass the test to move to the next grade or graduate?

Only the state test can affect if students graduate. If a third grade student does not pass the state exam, they are not allowed to graduate to fourth grade.

How are students handling increasing pressures to perform?

Students either find the assessment weeks stressful or they believe it’s unimportant. 

Are test scores used for teacher evaluations?

Yes, teachers are considered developing, effective, or highly effective depending on average student scores.

Other schools-

Other schools vary on how they motivate for and use high stakes assessments.  One teacher I spoke with said that there is a lot of pressure from testing in her school. Teachers are pressured because their class scores are scrutinized. There is pressure for students to perform as well. Students feel the stress of the teachers and are incentivized by free time and movies for good performance. Low students can often become depressed because they feel like they can’t possibly perform well enough. In addition, she suggested that teachers are almost forced to teach to the test to ensure that their proficiency rate is adequate.

My thoughts.

The Good

The tests do what they were meant to do… help with data collection. These tests measure students’ progress on standards for teachers and parents to see. These results can be brought up and studied throughout the years and patterns and growth can be assessed from them.  

The Bad

I really feel as if standardized tests, especially high stakes tests, are more harmful than helpful in many situations. Mitchell (2006) says “counselors thought their state's high-stakes testing increased stress in teachers, students, and themselves.” Students are stressed by the tests. The high pressure setting can make certain students underperform and seem as if they do not understand the standards they have learned. Students with disabilities, as well as students with alternate learning styles, are often unable to perform to the high standards of the test. This can be extremely stressful for them, as well as their teachers, who are often judged heavily on class-wide performance on these high stakes tests.

Mitchell (2006) also mentions that “critics of high-stakes testing generally report four negative classroom effects produced by testing… narrowing the curriculum…excluding topics not tested…reducing learning to the memorization of facts, (and) devoting too much classroom time to test preparation.” Teachers are almost made to teach to the test. Such importance is placed on getting good results during testing periods that teachers are forced to focus on tests, sometimes to the exclusion of other necessary learning. Because of this, students might not have a well-rounded class experience and learning may suffer.

And The Conclusion

From what I observed at my school, and what was confirmed from the teacher in the other district, these tests can be far more stressful than needed. While they have benefits, I believe those benefits could be maximized by removing some of the high stakes elements and giving students and teachers the ability, hand-in-hand and through multiple forms of assessment, to give a more accurate view of a student’s overall knowledge and learning.

References - 

Mitchell, R. (Feb. 10, 2006) High-stakes testing and effects on instruction: Research review. Retrieved from http://www.centerforpubliceducation.org/Main-Menu/Instruction/High-stakes-testing-and-effects-on-instruction-At-a-glance/High-stakes-testing-and-effects-on-instruction-Research-review.html

What’s your opinion? Are you fer high stakes testin’, or agin’ it? :D