This annotated bibliography is reformatted and customized by the Center for Positive Practices. Some of the authors featured on this page include Jessica M. Rodriguez, Heather A. Cole, Matthew Knoester, Joshua M. Cowen, John F. Witte, Barbara L. Pazey, Christian Ydesen, Deven E. Carlson, Avram Barlowe, and Wayne Au.
(2013). Hiding behind High-Stakes Testing: Meritocracy, Objectivity and Inequality in U.S. Education, International Education Journal: Comparative Perspectives. This paper analyses how high-stakes, standardised testing became the policy tool in the U.S. that it is today and discusses its role in advancing an ideology of meritocracy that fundamentally masks structural inequalities related to race and economic class. This paper first traces the early history of high-stakes testing within the U.S. context, focusing on its deep-rooted connections with eugenics and IQ testing in schools. It then turns to the more recent history of high-stakes testing, highlighting the ways that race and class inequality, as well as the ideology of meritocracy, manifest in the United States today as part of a legacy of inequality. [More] Descriptors: High Stakes Tests, Equal Education, Intelligence Quotient, Intelligence Tests
(2017). A School Divided: One Elementary School's Response to Education Policy, Anthropology & Education Quarterly. This article examines how one elementary school was divided into two schools–a primary and an intermediate school–because of how policies were interpreted and enacted with regard to high-stakes testing. The grades in which students took high-stakes tests were privileged in terms of receiving monetary resources and support from staff. An emphasis on testing also influenced how bilingual education was addressed. These organizational decisions highlight how policy operated as a practice of power, where inequitable education outcomes were reproduced. [More] Descriptors: Elementary Schools, Educational Policy, School Restructuring, High Stakes Tests
(2015). The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same: Comparing Special Education Students' Experiences of Accountability Reform across Two Decades, Urban Review: Issues and Ideas in Public Education. Over the last two decades, our nation has seen an array of reform initiatives that support lofty goals for student achievement. An underexplored issue in the literature is how this school reform set against the backdrop of high-stakes testing has impacted the students it is designed to assist. Now armed with years of student data, critics of accountability reform have argued that high stakes testing has done little to improve the educational outcomes of persistently low achieving students–urban poor, minority and students with disabilities. The statistics show a bleak picture. But, the numbers only tell half the story. This qualitative case study uses narrative analysis to detail the stories of 12 special education students in an urban Texas high school who experienced first hand the effects and fallout of accountability reform. The authors had the unique opportunity to interview two sets of students, one in 1995 when high stakes testing was first introduced and one in 2012 after two decades of implementation. Chronicling the voices of special education students at the same school over a 15¬ year period reveals that schooling experiences of these students have neither fundamentally changed nor improved despite numerous reform efforts. The paper provides a critical context for accountability reform juxtaposed with the students' personal experiences of testing and accountability reform. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of the importance of including student voice, particularly marginalized student voice, in ongoing reform efforts. [More] Descriptors: Special Education, Student Experience, Comparative Analysis, Accountability
(2013). Fear and Loathing in Elementary School: Lessons from a Third Grader about Better Assessments, Educational Forum. Recent educational accountability efforts have married student assessments with reform mandates and sanctions. As a result, students–beginning in early elementary grades–are feeling the pressures of this new era of high-stakes accountability. This article chronicles a story of the consequences of high-stakes testing on a father and his son. [More] Descriptors: High Stakes Tests, Accountability, Student Evaluation, Educational Assessment
(2014). High-Stakes Educational Testing and Democracy–Antagonistic or Symbiotic Relationship?, Education, Citizenship and Social Justice. This article argues that high-stakes educational testing, along with the attendant questions of power, education access, education management and social selection, cannot be considered in isolation from society at large. Thus, high-stakes testing practices bear numerous implications for democratic conditions in society. For decades, advocates of high-stakes educational testing have argued that testing would result in meritocracy, ensuring that everyone would be afforded the same opportunities to find success in adulthood. Examined from a critical perspective, however, we learn that testing is also extremely well designed as a bulwark against opposing or alternative outlooks and opinions, because testing is a complex tool requiring highly specialised knowledge to administer effectively. This article sets out to investigate the relation between high-stakes educational testing and democracy drawn from the experiences of 20th-century high-stakes educational testing practices in the Danish history of education. Among other things, the article concludes that a combination of different evaluation technologies–some formative and some summative–might be the safest way to go from a democratic perspective. [More] Descriptors: Foreign Countries, High Stakes Tests, Democracy, Correlation
(2015). Initial Development and Factor Structure of the Educator Test Stress Inventory, Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment. With the proliferation of test-based accountability policies, educators and students alike are under pressure to improve test performance. However, little is known regarding the stress experienced by educators in response to these policies. The purpose of this article is to describe the initial development and validation of a new measure of stress associated with high-stakes testing. Psychometric properties were examined within a sample of 8,084 educators in a southeastern state in the United States. An exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis of the Educator Test Stress Inventory supported a bifactor model of teacher test stress, with one general factor of Total Teacher Stress and two narrow factors of Sources of Stress and Manifestations of Stress. This study is an important first step in establishing a reliable and valid measure of teacher stress and better understanding the impact of high-stakes testing and educational accountability policies. Implications for the assessment and intervention of teacher stress are discussed. [More] Descriptors: Test Construction, Factor Structure, Test Validity, Anxiety
(2011). Teaching under the New Taylorism: High-Stakes Testing and the Standardization of the 21st Century Curriculum, Journal of Curriculum Studies. The application of the principles of scientific management within the structure, organization, and curriculum of public schools in the US became dominant during the early 1900s. Based upon research evidence from the modern day era of high-stakes testing in US public education, the fundamental logics guiding scientific management have resurfaced 100 years later, as teachers' classroom practises are increasingly standardized by high-stakes testing and scripted curriculum. As such, this paper offers a critical analysis of the changes made to teaching in modern times and argues that public school teachers in the US are teaching under what might be considered the "New Taylorism", where their labour is controlled vis-a-vis high-stakes testing and pre-packaged, corporate curricula aimed specifically at teaching to the tests. [More] Descriptors: Public Education, Criticism, Public School Teachers, Professional Autonomy
(2012). Elementary Teachers' Perceptions of the Effects of High-Stakes Testing, ProQuest LLC. High-stakes testing has increased since the passage of the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001. Many teachers are using teacher-centered activities with memorization and testing coach books instead of creating student-centered higher-order thinking activities. Some school districts are eliminating subjects that are not tested on state assessments. The purpose of this study was to collect information regarding the teaching experiences of 9 elementary teachers from the same school within one public school district. Teacher interviews were utilized in this case study to explore the perceived effects of high-stakes tests on elementary curriculum and instruction. The theoretical foundation for this study was based on the theories of behaviorism and constructivism. The study research questions addressed teachers' perceptions of the effects of high-stakes testing on curriculum and instruction. Qualitative coding was used to identify patterns and themes in the data through the systematic analysis and constant comparison of data sets. Data from interview transcripts were analyzed to determine factors, events, conditions, personal perspectives, and concerns of the elementary teachers. Teachers felt that high-stakes testing has resulted in a rigid, unbalanced and narrow curriculum. Teachers described that high-stakes testing has resulted in clear expectations for teachers which have helped them to know exactly what they have to teach within their classrooms. Implications for positive social change include providing teachers with necessary professional development relating to the effects of high-stakes testing; this can lead to curricular and instructional change that provides more instruction in higher-order thinking. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: www.proquest.com/en-US/products/disserta… [More] Descriptors: Teacher Attitudes, School Districts, Interviews, High Stakes Tests
(2012). High-Stakes Testing and Its Relationship to Stress Levels of Coastal Secondary Teachers, ProQuest LLC. The purpose of this research was to examine the relationship between high-stakes tests and stress with secondary teachers. Furthermore, this study investigated whether veteran teachers experience more stress than novice teachers and whether or not self-efficacy, gender, accountability status, and years of experience influence teacher stress as it relates to high-stakes testing. This contributed to the existing literature that relates to teacher stress and high-stakes testing. The participants for the study included Mississippi public coastal secondary school teachers who have administered the Mississippi Subject Area Testing Program system. The districts chosen were all secondary coastal schools. There was a significant difference, t(102) = 2.169,p = 0.032, between the stress level of female teachers and the stress levels of male teachers. This significance is due to the limited number of male teachers who responded to the survey. Of the teachers who responded to the survey, 25% (N = 104) were males. Thus, the 75% female respondents posed significance difference in gender and its affects to the stress levels of teachers as it relates to high-stakes testing in the stress levels of teachers. Furthermore, the there was a significant difference, F(2,101) = 5.623, p = 0.005, in the stress levels of teachers based the school's performance level as it relates to high-stakes testing. The performance level of school does significantly affect the stress level of teachers as it relates to high-stakes testing. Schools with a high-performing rating had 45.2% of the teacher respondents. There were no respondents from schools that had a rating that was below successful. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: www.proquest.com/en-US/products/disserta… [More] Descriptors: High Stakes Tests, Stress Variables, Secondary School Teachers, Experienced Teachers
(2008). High-Stakes Testing: Strategies by Teachers and Principals for Student Success, Journal of Instructional Psychology. Principals and teachers recommend strategies to prepare and motivate students for high-stakes testing. Strategies are based on what they determine to be effective for student success. [More] Descriptors: Testing, High Stakes Tests, Principals, Educational Strategies
(2016). The Impact of High-Stakes Testing on Latina/o Students' College Aspirations, Journal of Hispanic Higher Education. This study explores the influence high-stakes testing has on Latina/o student aspirations and subsequent college enrollment. It quantitatively examines the critical juncture of high school exit and college entry at a school district serving a predominately Latino population. Findings confirm a strong correlation between the math and English Language Arts exams. Furthermore, each subsequent attempt of the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE) yields lower average scores. Considerations about policy and its implications at the high school level are also discussed. [More] Descriptors: High Stakes Tests, Exit Examinations, Hispanic American Students, School Districts
(2013). Hopefulness for Teachers of ELLs in the Era of NCLB, Multicultural Perspectives. In this article the authors explore the role of critical hope as an essential quality in teachers' preparation to teach English Language Learners (ELLs) in the era of No Child Left Behind. The authors found that high stakes testing with inappropriate measures combined with teachers' lack of preparation to teach ELLs resulted in a downward spiral in hopefulness. [More] Descriptors: Teacher Education, Teacher Effectiveness, English (Second Language), Second Language Instruction
(2017). Standardized Testing and School Segregation: Like Tinder for Fire?, Race, Ethnicity and Education. Recent research suggests that high-stakes standardized testing has played a negative role in the segregation of children by race and class in schools. In this article we review research on the overall effects of segregation, the positive and negative aspects of how desegregation plans were carried out following the 1954 Supreme Court decision "Brown v. Board of Education," and the de facto re-segregation that followed the dismantling of many desegregation plans, along with the increase of school choice plans. We then analyze these effects in light of the ways that high-stakes standardized testing has grown in importance and intensity in US education policy and practice, especially during the most recent period of school re-segregation. Based on the evidence we argue that the intrinsic features of high-stakes testing, combined with current systems of school choice, function as mechanisms used for racial coding that facilitate segregation and compound inequalities found in schools. [More] Descriptors: Standardized Tests, School Segregation, Desegregation Litigation, School Desegregation
(2014). High-Stakes Choice: Achievement and Accountability in the Nation's Oldest Urban Voucher Program, Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis. This article considers the impact of a high-stakes testing and reporting requirement on students using publicly funded vouchers to attend private schools. We describe how such a policy was implemented during the course of a previously authorized multi-year evaluation of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, which provided us with data on voucher students before and after the reform, as well as on public school students who received no new policy treatment. Our results indicate substantial growth for voucher students in the first high-stakes testing year, particularly in mathematics, and for students with higher levels of earlier academic achievement. We discuss these results in the context of both the school choice and accountability literatures. [More] Descriptors: Educational Policy, Academic Achievement, High Stakes Tests, Educational Vouchers
(2016). Putting the Focus on Student Engagement: The Benefits of Performance-Based Assessment, American Educator. For more than two decades, the New York Performance Standards Consortium, a coalition of 38 public high schools, has steered clear of high-stakes testing, which superficially assess student learning. Instead, the consortium's approach relies on performance-based assessments–essays, research papers, science experiments, and high-level mathematical problems–to engage students and measure their knowledge and skills in a deep and meaningful way over time. In this article, the authors present how this form of assessment is working and benefiting the students. [More] Descriptors: Learner Engagement, Performance Based Assessment, High Schools, Public Schools