scholarly journals Reconsidering the Impact of High-stakes Testing

2004 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry Braun
Keyword(s):  
High Stakes Testing ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Mathematics Assessments ◽  
High Stakes Tests ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
Improving Student Learning ◽  
Relative Gains ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Number Of Authors ◽  
Grade 8

Over the last fifteen years, many states have implemented high-stakes tests as part of an effort to strengthen accountability for schools, teachers, and students. Predictably, there has been vigorous disagreement regarding the contributions of such policies to increasing test scores and, more importantly, to improving student learning. A recent study by Amrein and Berliner (2002a) has received a great deal of media attention. Employing various databases covering the period 1990-2000, the authors conclude that there is no evidence that states that implemented high-stakes tests demonstrated improved student achievement on various external measures such as performance on the SAT, ACT, AP, or NAEP. In a subsequent study in which they conducted a more extensive analysis of state policies (Amrein & Berliner, 2002b), they reach a similar conclusion. However, both their methodology and their findings have been challenged by a number of authors. In this article, we undertake an extended reanalysis of one component of Amrein and Berliner (2002a). We focus on the performance of states, over the period 1992 to 2000, on the NAEP mathematics assessments for grades 4 and 8. In particular, we compare the performance of the high-stakes testing states, as designated by Amrein and Berliner, with the performance of the remaining states (conditioning, of course, on a state’s participation in the relevant NAEP assessments). For each grade, when we examine the relative gains of states over the period, we find that the comparisons strongly favor the high-stakes testing states. Moreover, the results cannot be accounted for by differences between the two groups of states with respect to changes in percent of students excluded from NAEP over the same period. On the other hand, when we follow a particular cohort (grade 4, 1992 to grade 8, 1996 or grade 4, 1996 to grade 8, 2000), we find the comparisons slightly favor the low-stakes testing states, although the discrepancy can be partially accounted for by changes in the sets of states contributing to each comparison. In addition, we conduct a number of ancillary analyses to establish the robustness of our results, while acknowledging the tentative nature of any conclusions drawn from highly aggregated, observational data.

Engaging Exam-Oriented Students in Communicative Language Teaching by ‘Packaging’ Learning English Through Songs as Exam Practice

RELC Journal ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 003368822097854
Author(s):  
Kevin Wai-Ho Yung
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
High Stakes Testing ◽  
Communicative Language Teaching ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Secondary English ◽  
Language Curriculum ◽  
Teachers And Students

Literature has long been used as a tool for language teaching and learning. In the New Academic Structure in Hong Kong, it has become an important element in the senior secondary English language curriculum to promote communicative language teaching (CLT) with a process-oriented approach. However, as in many other English as a second or foreign language (ESL/EFL) contexts where high-stakes testing prevails, Hong Kong students are highly exam-oriented and expect teachers to teach to the test. Because there is no direct assessment on literature in the English language curriculum, many teachers find it challenging to balance CLT through literature and exam preparation. To address this issue, this article describes an innovation of teaching ESL through songs by ‘packaging’ it as exam practice to engage exam-oriented students in CLT. A series of activities derived from the song Seasons in the Sun was implemented in the ESL classrooms in a secondary school in Hong Kong. Based on the author’s observations and reflections informed by teachers’ and students’ comments, the students were first motivated, at least instrumentally, by the relevance of the activities to the listening paper in the public exam when they saw the similarities between the classroom tasks and past exam questions. Once the students felt motivated, they were more easily engaged in a variety of CLT activities, which encouraged the use of English for authentic and meaningful communication. This article offers pedagogical implications for ESL/EFL teachers to implement CLT through literature in exam-oriented contexts.

scholarly journals IS PATIENT SAFETY AT THE HEART OF MEDICAL EDUCATION IN INDONESIA? REFLECTION ON THE IMPACT OF THE NATIONAL EXAMINATION

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 153
Author(s):  
Rachmadya Nur Hidayah
Keyword(s):  
Medical Education ◽  
Quality Assurance ◽  
Patient Safety ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Patient Care ◽  
Medical Schools ◽  
Theory Approach ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
The Impact

ABSTRACT Background: National examinations in Indonesia (UKMPPD) has been implemented since 2007 as a quality assurance method for medical graduates and medical schools. The impact of UKMPPD has been studied since then, where one of the consequences were related to how it affected medical education and curricula. This study explored the consequences of UKMPPD, focusing on how the students, teachers, and medical schools’ leaders relate the examination with patient care. This study aimed to explore the impact of UKMPPD on medical education, which focusing on the issue of patient safety. Methods: This study was part of a doctoral project, using a qualitative method with a modified grounded theory approach. The perspectives of multiple stakeholders on the impact of the UKMPPD were explored using interview and focus groups. Interviews were conducted with medical schools’ representatives (vice deans/ programme directors), while focus groups were conducted with teachers and students. A sampling framework was used by considering the characteristics of Indonesian medical schools based on region, accreditation status, and ownership (public/ private). Data was analysed using open coding and thematic framework as part of the iterative process. Results: The UKMPPD affected how the stakeholders viewed this high-stakes examination and the education delivered in their medical schools. One of the consequences revealed how stakeholders viewed the UKMPPD and its impact on patient care. Participants viewed the UKMPPD as a method of preparation for graduates’ real clinical practice. The lack of reference for patient safety as the impact of the UKMPPD in this study showed that there were missing links in how stakeholders perceived the examination as part of quality assurance in health care. Conclusion: The UKMPPD as a high-stakes examination has a powerful impact in changing educational policy and programmes in Indonesia. However, in Indonesia, the examination brought in the reflection on how the “patient” element was lacking from medical education. This research offers an insight on the concept of patient safety in Indonesia and how the stakeholders could approach the issue. Keywords: UKMPPD, national licensing examination, impact, competence, patient safety, curriculum 

scholarly journals The Impact of Performance Goals on Cheating Depends on How Performance is Evaluated

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Daumiller ◽  
Stefan Janke
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Design ◽  
High Stakes Testing ◽  
Performance Goals ◽  
Performance Tests ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Academic Cheating ◽  
Evaluation Standards ◽  
Evaluation Standard ◽  
New Knowledge ◽  
The Impact

We investigated how evaluation standards employed in performance tests affect the impact of performance goals (here: focused on appearance) on academic cheating. Thereby, we assumed that appearance goals would only lead to increased cheating if students’ performance was presumably evaluated based on results rather than on strategies applied to solve the questions. 169 university students (68.6% female) participated in an experimental design with 2 (induced appearance goals versus no goal induction) x 2 (process-based versus result-based evaluation standards) between-subject conditions. We assessed cheating using a confederate student observing participants’ behaviors and by measuring whether participants reported that they solved unsolvable questions. Confirming our hypotheses, we found that students were only more likely to cheat when appearance goals were induced and the evaluation standard focused on the results. This new knowledge helps to explain mixed findings regarding how performance goals affect cheating and provides opportunities to reduce cheating in high-stakes testing situations.

Lesson Study in a Turnaround School: Local Knowledge as a Pressure-Balanced Valve for Improved Instruction

2017 ◽  
Vol 119 (6) ◽  
pp. 1-58
Author(s):  
Vicki S. Collet
Keyword(s):  
Local Knowledge ◽  
Lesson Study ◽  
Unique Contribution ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Turnaround School ◽  
State Accountability ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
Study Process ◽  
High Needs Schools ◽  
The Impact

Background Federal and state accountability policies attempt to improve educational outcomes but have been blamed for a breadth of ills, including minimizing local knowledge and reducing teachers’ ability to respond to contextual needs. Teachers in high-needs schools, especially, feel the effects of constrained curricula and increased testing, resulting in increased workload and anxiety. Purpose This article explores the impact of professional development on teachers and students in a time of high-stakes accountability. Specifically, we ask: Does Lesson Study impact teachers’ instruction and students’ achievement in writing? And how do pressures imposed by policy impact efficacy and collaboration in a high-needs school? Research Design This study uses data from 20 Lesson Study meetings at a high-needs, “Turnaround” school and considers changes in students’ writing achievement. The mixed-method approach and high-stakes context offer a unique contribution to Lesson Study research. Conclusions Findings indicate that instruction changed and students’ writing significantly improved, with the mean growth percentile increasing from the 30th to the 46th percentile on state assessments. Further, we found that during the Lesson Study process, teachers moved through six Stages of Transformation in response to a high-pressure context, moving from feelings of anger and blame-shifting to eventual feelings of empowerment.

scholarly journals How neoliberal globalization is shaping early childhood education policies in India, China, Singapore, Sri Lanka and the Maldives

2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amita Gupta
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Postcolonial Theory ◽  
High Stakes Testing ◽  
Education Policies ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Neoliberal Globalization ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
The Impact

In rapidly globalizing systems of schooling around the world, economic considerations have led to a push to impose neoliberal reforms in the field of education. Under this influence early childhood education and teacher education in Asia have increasingly become positioned as regulated markets governed by neoliberal policies, leading to peak activities in privatization, consumerism, standardization and high-stakes testing. This article, based on a series of qualitative inquiries, presents a review of recent early childhood policies in India, China, Singapore, Sri Lanka and the Maldives. The impact of the policies on pedagogy is discussed within the frameworks of neoliberal globalization and postcolonial theory, emphasizing the growing need to recognize the third space of pedagogical hybridity in classrooms that are becoming increasingly multicultural and global.

Community responsive literacies: the development of the Ethnic Studies Praxis Story Plot

2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 411-429 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward R. Curammeng ◽  
Daisy D. Lopez ◽  
Allyson Tintiangco-Cubales
Keyword(s):  
Language Arts ◽  
Ethnic Studies ◽  
High Stakes Testing ◽  
Educational Partnerships ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Language Arts Teachers ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
Arts Teachers ◽  
K 12

Purpose Momentum around the institutionalization of Ethnic Studies in US K-12 classrooms is increasing. Opponents have argued that Ethnic Studies does not challenge students academically and prepare them for high stakes testing (Planas, 2012; Sanchez, 2007). Conversely, research continues to show ways Ethnic Studies contribute to students’ academic achievement, especially for students from marginalized and vulnerable communities (Cabrera et al., 2014; Halagao, 2010; Tintiangco-Cubales et al., 2015). This study aims to demonstrate the possibilities and potential of Ethnic Studies-framed tools for English and Language arts teachers. This moment concerning Ethnic Studies in schools illuminates an important opportunity to demonstrate how Ethnic Studies-framed tools positively affect learning mainstream school content, namely, English and Language Arts. The authors consider the following point: To what extent can Ethnic Studies-framed tools affect approaches for learning English, writing and reading while simultaneously being responsive to a community’s needs? The authors maintain the importance of such tools that exist in how they support the development of community responsive literacies (CRLs). Design/methodology/approach This paper examines CRLs through the Ethnic Studies Praxis Story Plot (ESPSP). The authors begin by exploring the development of the ESPSP, first used in Pin@y Educational Partnerships (PEP), an innovative K-college Ethnic Studies teaching pipeline. Next, the authors examine each coordinate of the ESPSP, examining their purpose, theoretical underpinnings and ways the ESPSP offers nuanced approaches for learning literacies. Findings The authors then discuss how CRLs emerged to support PEP teachers and students’ reading and writing skills using the ESPSP. Originality/value Finally, the authors learn from students’ experiences with the ESPSP and offer implications for English and Language Arts teachers in the pursuit of teaching and serving students in more socially just and community responsive ways.

Assessing Student Understanding

2017 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. 324
Author(s):  
Anthony Fernandes ◽  
Natasha Murray ◽  
Terrence Wyberg
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
High Stakes Testing ◽  
Student Understanding ◽  
Formative Assessments ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Testing Environment ◽  
School Year ◽  
Summative Assessments ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
Improve Student Learning

In the current high–stakes testing environment, a mention of assessment is inevitably associated with large–scale summative assessments at the end of the school year. Although these assessments serve an important purpose, assessing students' learning is an ongoing process that takes place in the classroom on a regular basis. Effectively gathering information about student understanding is integral to all aspects of mathematics instruction. Formative assessments conducted in the classroom have the potential to provide important feedback about students' understanding, guide future instruction to improve student learning, and provide roadmaps for both teachers and students in the process of learning.

Where the Rubber Meets the Road: Rethinking the Connection Between High-Stakes Testing Policy and Classroom Instruction

2007 ◽  
Vol 80 (4) ◽  
pp. 285-313 ◽  
Author(s):  
John B. Diamond
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Classroom Instruction ◽  
High Stakes Testing ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
The Road ◽  
Collegial Interactions ◽  
Instructional Content ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Testing Policies

In this article, the author examines the link between high-stakes testing policies and classroom instruction. Using data from classroom observations and interviews with teachers, he argues that these policies influence instruction but are mediated by teachers and filtered through their collegial interactions. He shows that teachers link the influence of high-stakes testing policies to instructional content (the knowledge and skills that they emphasize) more often than pedagogy (how they engage students around instructional content). As a result, didactic instruction dominates, especially in predominantly low-income and African American schools, in a policy environment that encourages addressing racial and class achievement gaps by increasing the use of interactive forms of instruction. The author concludes that researchers should be cautious not to overstate the impact of these policies on pedagogy and educational equity.

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