STANDARDIZED TESTING ISN’T THE BEST ANSWER:

AN INVESTIGATION OF THE EFFECTS OF STANDARDIZED TESTING

Beth GaylorLiberal Studies Senior Research ProjectMay 3, 2010

The primary goal for my research project is to investigate how the policies of standardized testing are affecting teacher and student anxiety and classroom environments.

- Research- Interview- Experience- Recommend

WHY ARE STANDARDIZED ASSESSMENTS NOT THE BEST ANSWER?

Stress can cause test scores to plummet.

Students and teachers experience anxiety.

Policies are being made by politicians and not educators.

MORE TO CONSIDERTest design and framework can multiply anxiety

Assessments penalize female and minority students

Disparity in test scores and grades

Lower socio-economic status

lower test scoresProperty taxes fund schools

NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND No Child Left Behind is “an act to close

the achievement gap with accountability, flexibility, and choice, so that no child is left behind”

Achievement gap- a persistent disparity between minority and low-income students and their more privileged white peers on measureable test scores (Zhang & Cowen, 2009)

SOCI AND GEOG IN NCLB “while the achievement gap is

generally considered as a matter of race and class, its spatial aspects—the inequalities of academic achievement across schools and between different geographical settings (e.g., urban/suburban/rural) are also important.”

“understanding the landscapes in which public schools are embedded is important for interpreting their performance in meeting the standards set forth in the NCLB legislation.”

(Zhang & Cowen, 2009)

“Teachers must be encouraged to use the curriculum to not only teach the

skills and content necessary to achieve on the test but also to

achieve in life.” (Barrier-Ferreira, 2008)

Ron Clark Rafe Esquith

“What is forgone when teachers spend inordinate amounts of time teaching to tests that

might have a minimal connection to what students really need to learn?” (Sacks, 1999)

preparation, practice, and testing itself takes up a majority of time

and focus in the classroom

DETRIMENTS TO BOTH STUDENTS AND TEACHERS teachers will teach to the test, class time will be lost for test

preparation and test-taking, student test anxiety, the neglect of higher-order thinking

skills development, and the potential harming of self-

confidence of students who score poorly

(Mulvenson, Stegman, & Ritter, 2005)

INTERVIEWS3 teachers interviewed:- 4th grade teacher- 8th grade special education

teacher- 11th grade English teacher

5 questions asked:- How long have you been a

teacher?- How has standardized

testing as an assessment changed over those years?

- How a political candidate’s stance on education issues would influence your political action?

- How does standardized testing affect your students and/or classroom environment?

- How does standardized testing affect you as the teacher?

2 themes emerged:- Standardized testing

standardized teaching

- Tyranny of testing

PROCTORINGDifferent classroom set-up

Another teacher figure in the classroom

“The environment in which a person learns has a huge impact on his or her ability to encode information and recall it upon demand.” (Raudenbush, 2004)

PEPPERMINT CONDITIONPeppermint odor,

administered either retro-nasally [eating] or ortho-nasally [smelling], improved participants’ scores on tasks related to attentional processes, virtual recognition memory, working memory, and visual-motor response speed. In addition, participants rated their mood and level of vigor higher, and their level of fatigue lower, in the peppermint condition. (Raudenbush, 2010, p. 4)

RECOMMENDATION 1 Accept the policies as they are Cope with prevalent test anxiety

Anxiety management training for all teachers, including:

- Positive effects of slow, deep breathing for relaxation;- Muscle relaxation;- How to use positive self-talk during testing; and- Guided imagery as a way to quickly lower stress levels.

RECOMMENDATION 2 Work to change policies mandating

standardized assessments to measure student success

Question candidates Hold elected officials accountable Contact senators and representatives to

share their experiences and opinions when education policies are being considered

More well-rounded assessments of student ability should be implemented

QUESTIONS???

Thank you!