Within the context of public education, high-stakes standardized achievement tests have become the norm since the early 2000s (U.S. Department of Education, 2010).
As a result of the development and implementation of these tests at all grade levels over the past 20 years, teachers and students have been held accountable for high scores, as a means of showing the effectiveness of the teacher and school. Stories such as the Atlanta
Public School System cheating scandal where teachers and administrators were encouraged to change student answers to raise the passing rates for schools are evidence of the emphasis school districts, superintendents, and principals have placed on the performance results of these tests (Rich, 2013). All members of …show more content…
Department of Education, 2010). Many standardized tests given to students in public high schools are required for graduation, but students also take voluntary tests such as the Advanced Placement exams,
SATs, and ACTs. Schools are ranked and judged by the state and nation based on these voluntary test scores as well as dropout rates and teacher effectiveness. These rankings place pressure on the high level courses offered in high schools and causes test preparation to be a primary focus for many teachers, teachers whose effectiveness is judged based on the test scores their students achieve. As a result, many schools only let their best and brightest students enroll in AP classes, and they strongly encourage these students to take tests like the SAT and ACT (GCPS, 2013; Rich, 2013). The focus on standardized tests scores is also seen at the state and national levels, with legislative support of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), Race to the Top, and …show more content…
Department of Education, 2010). The implementation of NCLB began to put pressure on schools’ performance on tests in 2001 and required schools to meet adequate yearly progress, or AYP, within three years in order to remain open (U.S. Department of
Education, 2010). Many schools struggled to meet the stringent standards, and were closed or reorganized with new leadership and new teachers. Race to the Top, a federally funded program aimed at reforming public schools performance, began in 2010 with a focus on reforming education in many ways (U.S. Department of Education, 2010). One of the changes focused on changing the way in which teachers received their salary to a pay-for-performance system, which would reward teachers on their students’ achievement and improvement on standardized assessments. The Common Core State
Standards have now implemented new standards for states to follow, and soon new standardized tests will be administered in order to determine how effective teachers and schools have been at implementing these new standards. The pressures of testing are real and impact teaching and learning.
In short, because teachers are pressured to teach in ways that promote
As a result of the development and implementation of these tests at all grade levels over the past 20 years, teachers and students have been held accountable for high scores, as a means of showing the effectiveness of the teacher and school. Stories such as the Atlanta
Public School System cheating scandal where teachers and administrators were encouraged to change student answers to raise the passing rates for schools are evidence of the emphasis school districts, superintendents, and principals have placed on the performance results of these tests (Rich, 2013). All members of …show more content…
Department of Education, 2010). Many standardized tests given to students in public high schools are required for graduation, but students also take voluntary tests such as the Advanced Placement exams,
SATs, and ACTs. Schools are ranked and judged by the state and nation based on these voluntary test scores as well as dropout rates and teacher effectiveness. These rankings place pressure on the high level courses offered in high schools and causes test preparation to be a primary focus for many teachers, teachers whose effectiveness is judged based on the test scores their students achieve. As a result, many schools only let their best and brightest students enroll in AP classes, and they strongly encourage these students to take tests like the SAT and ACT (GCPS, 2013; Rich, 2013). The focus on standardized tests scores is also seen at the state and national levels, with legislative support of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), Race to the Top, and …show more content…
Department of Education, 2010). The implementation of NCLB began to put pressure on schools’ performance on tests in 2001 and required schools to meet adequate yearly progress, or AYP, within three years in order to remain open (U.S. Department of
Education, 2010). Many schools struggled to meet the stringent standards, and were closed or reorganized with new leadership and new teachers. Race to the Top, a federally funded program aimed at reforming public schools performance, began in 2010 with a focus on reforming education in many ways (U.S. Department of Education, 2010). One of the changes focused on changing the way in which teachers received their salary to a pay-for-performance system, which would reward teachers on their students’ achievement and improvement on standardized assessments. The Common Core State
Standards have now implemented new standards for states to follow, and soon new standardized tests will be administered in order to determine how effective teachers and schools have been at implementing these new standards. The pressures of testing are real and impact teaching and learning.
In short, because teachers are pressured to teach in ways that promote