High-stakes testing and its impact on studentsA lot of the reading in this section seemed to indicate that using
standardized testing as a singular assessment
is really dangerous, for a lot of reasons. Mainly being: that one grade on one test is basically useless without
context; that the assessment needs to cover relevant material in a relevant way; that only students in intermediate elementary grades are really going to be giving their best efforts. The increasing emphasis on high-stakes testing has a big impact on the daily classroom environment, too--this is talked about at the end of the chapter. The biggest thing, for me, is how it affects the curriculum (which obviously affects both teacher and student engagement and motivtion). This is really toxic in an elementary classroom (coincidentally my area of particular interest).The assessments have become less measures of expected learning and more goals in and of themselves, if that makes sense. And that’s a problem. For instance, the Common Core standards only address language arts and math. In some elementary schools now, these are the only subjects addressed. Phonics drills as far as the eye can see. Kids need to have their curiosity sparked and their creativity given room to grow, but it’s just not happening as much as it should in some stressed-out classrooms. Teachers are told to focus on the kids “in the yellow” to bring them to the minimum of what is acceptable, and so the kids falling too far in either direction are left to the wayside. There is so much emphasis on differentiation in teaching methodology, but when the goal moves from being “get the kids to learn as much as each of them can” to “make sure everyone can meet the minimum standard (which is increasingly high)”, differentiation can fall by the wayside, and a lot of the development and learning that needs to happen in elementary school that isn’t purely skills-based (for instance, general knowledge, social aspects, and critical thinking) is sidelined. Proponents of this high-stakes stuff seem to forget that learning arithmetic and reading was already a pretty big focus of primary school, and they seem to ignore the fact that being punitive about who does and does not meet the standards is not super helpful.
is really dangerous, for a lot of reasons. Mainly being: that one grade on one test is basically useless without
context; that the assessment needs to cover relevant material in a relevant way; that only students in intermediate elementary grades are really going to be giving their best efforts. The increasing emphasis on high-stakes testing has a big impact on the daily classroom environment, too--this is talked about at the end of the chapter. The biggest thing, for me, is how it affects the curriculum (which obviously affects both teacher and student engagement and motivtion). This is really toxic in an elementary classroom (coincidentally my area of particular interest).The assessments have become less measures of expected learning and more goals in and of themselves, if that makes sense. And that’s a problem. For instance, the Common Core standards only address language arts and math. In some elementary schools now, these are the only subjects addressed. Phonics drills as far as the eye can see. Kids need to have their curiosity sparked and their creativity given room to grow, but it’s just not happening as much as it should in some stressed-out classrooms. Teachers are told to focus on the kids “in the yellow” to bring them to the minimum of what is acceptable, and so the kids falling too far in either direction are left to the wayside. There is so much emphasis on differentiation in teaching methodology, but when the goal moves from being “get the kids to learn as much as each of them can” to “make sure everyone can meet the minimum standard (which is increasingly high)”, differentiation can fall by the wayside, and a lot of the development and learning that needs to happen in elementary school that isn’t purely skills-based (for instance, general knowledge, social aspects, and critical thinking) is sidelined. Proponents of this high-stakes stuff seem to forget that learning arithmetic and reading was already a pretty big focus of primary school, and they seem to ignore the fact that being punitive about who does and does not meet the standards is not super helpful.
Francesca, I think you have captured the frustration of many teachers in describing the difficulties with high stakes testing. I can personally reflect on how the techniques I learned regarding good teaching practices were hard to implement under the constrictions of high-stakes testing. The challenge for you, then, is to consider how you can still bring quality learning to your community of learners and still operate under the expectations that your class will deliver the expected test scores at the end of the year. This is the reality facing teachers, but it can be negotiated with creativity and a solid theoretical background. Also, consider how these tests may serve you as a teacher. There is some informative value in them, and, if you care to, you turn the so-called lemons in lemonade.
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