High Stakes Testing

1
High Stakes Testing

• An Education Policy Project Briefing Paper by
• Gerald Bracey, Ph.D.

2
Cited Work

• Bracey, Ph.D., Gerald. High Stakes Testing An
  Education Policy Project Briefing Paper. 5 Dec.
  2000. Center For Education, Research, Analysis,
  and Innovation. 24 Feb. 2004. lthttp//www.asu.edu/
  educ/epsl/EPRU/documents/cerai-00-32.htmgt.

3
Testing

• 2000 The year U.S. schools went test crazy
• The reality is that schools were going crazy
  trying to deal with mandated testing.
• This is nothing new-Minimum Competency Tests came
  about in the 70s 80s.
• SAT scores in the news, but only when they go
  down.

4
High Stakes Testing Reality

• Students more likes to not graduate because of
  tougher tests and unrealistic high standards.
• Students being retained or forced to attend
  summer school based on scores.
• Teachers and administrators raises and jobs on
  the line and tied to scores.
• Tests WERE monitoring devices now they have
  CONSEQUENCES and are used as standards.

5
2 Big Questions

• WHY?
• A loss of trust in teachers and administrators.
• Are the testing programs having their desired
  impact?
• NO.

6
WHY?

• Historically-WW2, Universities had to work with
  products of high schools to fend off the red
  scare.
• 1983 A Nation Of Risk.
• Later found to have been highly selective and
  skewed data. Noted in NY Times in 1997 as
  merely propaganda.
• Much of the data that was positive during
  Reagan/Bush year was suppressed or ignored.
• Clinton years, some of this was revealed, but
  they spun testing to be a banner for raising
  funds for resources.
• Some of things reported as data were found to be
  a hoax.

7
Results

• The collective result of this skewed data
  reporting has left the people with a mistrust of
  the teachers and administrators in education.
• The Result A TEST.

8
Is This Warranted?

• Not according to data.
• Data from TESTS.
• SATs at record high levels since 80s and remain
  there.
• NAEP testing at all time high with dramatic gains
  for black hispanic population.
• AP exams up from 61 _at_ 1000 to over 1,000,000
  currently.
• Americans are 2nd in the world in reading.

9
Quote from Robert Linn

• I am led to conclude that in most cases the
  instruments and technology have not been up to
  the demands that have been placed on them by
  high-stakes accountability. Assessment systems
  that are useful monitors lose much of the
  dependability and credibility for that purpose
  when high stakes are attached to them. The
  unintended negative effects of the high-stakes
  accountability uses often outweigh the intended
  positive effects.

10
Negative Consequences

• Wedge between parent/student.
• Increasing social stratification.
• Since testing,higher dropout rates for
  black/hispanic in TX.
• Teachers abandoning curricula to lecture on test
  oriented material
• Misrepresent schools achievements

11
Negative Consequences

• Rebelling
• Parents
• Students
• Teachers
• Parental refusal to test students
• Students not testing and being suspended
• Teachers/Administrators cheating.

12
Conclusion

• Everyone supports effort to improve schools.
• Unintended negative consequences of high stakes
  testing defeat that purpose of improvement.
  Bracey
• We need a better, more thoughtful program to hold
  education accountable other than high stakes
  testing.