Okay, I wouldn't actually say that one of them because I know how hard they work under the enormous
pressure of standardized tests that many Science teachers like me do not have to face.
My question: how do we assess the students» academic abilities and progress without penalizing schools and teachers and without
the pressure of standardized tests?
When faced with
the pressure of standardized tests and college entrance exams, students often feel like their creativity is stifled.
Whether it's an unhappy parent,
the pressure of standardized tests, students with behavior challenges, or something personal, staff members go through difficult patches.
In order to keep up with
the pressures of standardized tests, teachers commonly use videos, Powerpoints, and other multimedia to teach lessons in a more concise fashion.
Not exact matches
At a meeting with concerned parents, the school superintendent sympathized with our concerns, but explained how much
pressure the administrators were under, because
of No Child Left Behind, to raise
standardized test scores.
The whole system puts unbelievably intense
pressure on teachers, resulting in all sorts
of unintended consequences like the
standardized test cheating scandals, schools cutting into recess, etc. etc..
Julia Bauscher, who is president
of a national advocacy group called the School Nutrition Association, says administrators are under intense
pressure to increase instruction time and boost
standardized test scores.
Homework has long inspired strong feelings — and creative excuses — in children, but it has more recently become an area
of growing concern for parents in a scholastic system increasingly focused on high -
pressure, high - stakes
standardized testing.
«For the state to give
standardized tests, which many people think are developmentally inappropriate, put all sorts
of pressure on kids, don't measure creativity, critical thinking, and all the things we think are important.
It has caused good schools to be labeled as failing and puts undue
pressure on students and teachers to focus on passing
standardized tests instead
of engaging in other subjects such as the sciences, history, art, or music.
In addition to
pressure from peers, students spoke about
pressure from adults,
pressure related to
standardized testing, and the demands
of competing responsibilities.
Cowhey: What I am hearing from teachers around the country is that the overwhelming
pressure to teach to
standardized tests gets in the way
of their ability to teach critically.
The
pressure to use students»
standardized -
test scores has also contributed to a recent wave
of anti-testing sentiment, including the «opt out» movement.
Dan Koretz, Reporters Roundtable on High Stakes
Testing Bloomberg, 4/26/13 «Dan Koretz, professor and director of the Education Accountability Project at Harvard University, John Merrow, PBS education correspondent, Kevin Riley, Atlanta Journal Constitution editor in chief, and Greg Toppo, USA Today national K - 12 education reporter, discuss the effects and increased pressure of high stakes testing on education, test tampering indictments of 35 educators in Atlanta and renewed discussion about standardized test score irregularities in the District of Columbia.
Testing Bloomberg, 4/26/13 «Dan Koretz, professor and director
of the Education Accountability Project at Harvard University, John Merrow, PBS education correspondent, Kevin Riley, Atlanta Journal Constitution editor in chief, and Greg Toppo, USA Today national K - 12 education reporter, discuss the effects and increased
pressure of high stakes
testing on education, test tampering indictments of 35 educators in Atlanta and renewed discussion about standardized test score irregularities in the District of Columbia.
testing on education,
test tampering indictments
of 35 educators in Atlanta and renewed discussion about
standardized test score irregularities in the District
of Columbia.»
The PZC tackles challenging issues about the kind
of teaching and learning that should be done in classrooms all around the world, but is not being done, in part because
of the
pressure for certain performances on certain kinds
of standardized tests, in part because teachers teach what they were taught and in the ways that they were taught 10 or 50 years ago.
In most cases, new goals and content additions are tacked onto an already overburdened curriculum, and with the
pressure of preparing for
standardized tests, relatively few educators are able to consistently provide the time needed to effectively integrate new learning goals into the curriculum.
• too much school time is given over to
test prep — and the
pressure to lift scores leads to cheating and other unsavory practices; • subjects and accomplishments that aren't
tested — art, creativity, leadership, independent thinking, etc. — are getting squeezed if not discarded; • teachers are losing their freedom to practice their craft, to make classes interesting and stimulating, and to act like professionals; • the curricular homogenizing that generally follows from
standardized tests and state (or national) standards represents an undesirable usurpation
of school autonomy, teacher freedom, and local control by distant authorities; and • judging teachers and schools by pupil
test scores is inaccurate and unfair, given the kids» different starting points and home circumstances, the variation in class sizes and school resources, and the many other services that schools and teachers are now expected to provide their students.
Now at the end
of the first year
of the study, Margolis has already observed how
pressure to increase
standardized test scores at the largely Latino school has edged «extras» like computer programming out
of the curriculum.
Because
of the vast amount
of information that needs to be covered and the
pressure of preparing for
standardized tests, relatively few educators are able to consistently provide the time needed to effectively integrate new learning goals into the curriculum.
The
pressure to perform on
standardized assessments equates learning and schooling with
testing, mastery, and memorization.However, as most teachers, parents, and students can tell you, learning is much more
of an organic, constructive process.
The statistic not only showed the growing strength
of the «opt out» movement against
standardized testing, but also put immediate
pressure on state and federal officials, who must now decide whether to penalize schools and districts with low participation rates.
With
standardized testing pressures and the requirements to absorb a prescribed curriculum consuming education ~ I hope that you see the value in this pursuit and join me in keeping all
of our interests alive.
Among the report's recommendations for reducing undue
pressure on high - school students are making
standardized tests optional or discouraging students from taking them more than twice, raising awareness
of overloading on Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate courses and prioritizing quality, not quantity,
of extracurricular activities.
In response to the added
pressure this year, a movement against
standardized testing is gathering steam as some parents decide to let their children opt out
of the
tests.
In general, studies indicated that high - stakes
standardized basic skills
tests led to: a) a narrowing
of the curriculum, b) an overemphasis on basic skills and
test - like instructional methods, c) a reduction in effective instructional time and an increase in time for
test preparation, d) inflated
test scores, and e)
pressure on teachers to improve
test scores (Herman & Golan, 1993; Nolen, Haladyna, & Haas, 1992; Resnick & Resnick, 1992; Shepard, 1991; Shepard & Dougherty, 1991, Smith, 1991; Smith, Edelsky, Draper, Rottenberg, & Cherland, 1990).
We ask you to consider our experiences and the experiences
of our students in a world where schools face more
standardized tests and increasing
pressures related to their outcomes than ever before.
These are some
of the things I've heard teachers say over the years about
standardized test scores and the
pressures surrounding student performance:
Researchers from Europe, Asia, and Latin America were very alarmed by the current «reform» movement in the United States, fearful that the same trends — the same overemphasis
of standardized testing, the same push for privatization and markets, and the same
pressure to lower standards for entry into teaching — might come to their own countries.
He explains that the
pressure to develop curriculum addressing state standards and the requirement to use
standardized tests that reflect rote learning resulted in limited use
of digital primary sources and «best historical practices» (p. 323).
I understand the
pressures schools are under to achieve the
standardized test scores to prove they are successful, but my wish, my hope is that school leaders do not forget their philosophy
of education, that they continually reflect on what they believe students really need to learn to succeed in life, that they encourage a culture
of listening at their schools.
Comment from Smith: Maybe we need to ask some
of the big questions... like who benefits from the way things are now (
standardized tests and other
pressures of accountability that make good teachers and schools vulnerable to poor practices).
Without being held accountable to the incessant
pressure of increasing student performance on a
standardized test (see Hew & Brush, 2007; Walker & Shepard, 2011; Zhao, 2007), Mike found technology use to be «definitely less prescriptive, especially for us.»
Please consider disabling it for our site, or supporting our work in one
of these ways Subscribe Now > It's not hard to find a teacher willing to bend your ear about the volume
of standardized testing in schools today, and the
pressure for «
test prep.»
With the stress
of standardized testing and other external
pressures, it's easy to forget that there is more to class than just teaching for the
test, students come to school to feel safe, a sense
of community, and to grow as individuals.
The case, arising from cheating revealed in 2009, highlights what critics
of standardized testing argue is part
of the downside
of relying on the
test results to evaluate teachers, principals and schools:
Pressure to perform can lead people to cross the line when their jobs or merit pay are at stake.
Forty - seven percent
of voters agreed with the statement that
standardized testing hurts education in California by
pressuring teachers to teach to the
test and fails to account for differences in cultural and economic backgrounds and learning style
Facing less
pressure around
standardized testing, OST settings can offer greater freedom for independent exploration without fear
of earning a «bad grade.»
Lack
of proficiency in reading and writing in social studies is exacerbated by the fact that schools are spending far less time on social studies instruction in the face
of increasing
pressure to improve
standardized test scores in reading and mathematics (Manzo, 2005).
Also
of concern is the implication that schools should be closed, which is one
of the central tools
of today's education reform that seeks to label,
pressure, and ultimately close schools using
standardized test based metrics.
In an era when teachers are increasingly
pressured by the demands
of standardized tests, it's important that we not forget the effectiveness
of incorporating art into traditional instruction.
Our mission is to organize a boycott
of the annual state
tests in order to
pressure state officials to respond to parent concerns and replace high - stakes
standardized tests with authentic assessments.
(15) If
standardized test scores form a substantial part
of a school or a teacher's evaluation, there is likely to be considerable
pressure to align other measures with the
test score data.
Via NY Times by Motoko Rich Secretary
of Education Arne Duncan announced on Thursday that states could delay the use
of test results in teacher - performance ratings by another year, an acknowledgment, in effect,
of the enormous
pressures mounting on the nation's teachers because
of new academic standards and more rigorous
standardized testing.
And this school is hardly the only one where students feel enormous
pressure to do well on high - stakes
standardized tests, the results
of which are now being used to evaluate teachers, as well as students and schools.
Much
of the criticism
of the Bush - era No Child Left Behind law was that its over reliance on
standardized assessments — and the subsequent
pressure it put on teachers due to its punitive nature — encouraged educators to «teach to the
test» at the expense
of actual learning.
He estimates that KIPP will need about 10 percent
of the students in a community to really put
pressure on the system as a whole, and in Houston, he is already seeing some evidence
of that, as the traditional direct - run schools have begun emulating KIPP policies, putting up posters about colleges instead
of standardized tests and sending teachers on visits to new students» homes.
It's not hard to find a teacher willing to bend your ear about the volume
of standardized testing in schools today, and the
pressure for «
test prep.»
Hutsenpiller is just one
of many voices starting to shout out against the growth and intensity
of standardized tests and the
pressure accompanying them.
With less federal government
pressure for students to perform well at specific
testing periods during the year,
standardized testing may become less frequent, and the door is opened for districts to prepare individualized programs to bolster the success
of each student.