The use of High Stakes Test to Evaluate Teachers - Research Paper Example

? The Use of High Stakes Test to Evaluate Teachers The use of high stakes testing has become a growing problem among teachers, and parents while policy makers applaud the success of such tests in various school districts. High stakes tests such as the Texas Assessment of Academic Skill(TAAS) , Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System(MCAS) and Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills(TAKs) are primarily designed to measure a student's knowledge and skills in the areas of reading, writing and math. However, the responsibility of the classroom teacher involves preparing students for obtaining a passing score on such high stakes tests. Consequently, if they can not successfully prepare students for passing high stakes tests, many teachers stand a great chance of losing their careers. Although high stakes testing has demonstrated a degree of success when it comes to raising standards and achievement and holding teachers/students accountable, the use of high stakes testing to evaluate teachers isn't fair at all, especially when major decisions are made to relieve teachers of their duties. With the high level of stress teachers already endure day after day, adding the pressure of high stakes testing only increases the number of cons resulting from placing teacher's career in jeopardy if students are unable to pass high stakes tests. Therefore, the cons resulting from such high stakes tests must be seriously considered by policymakers. If these cons are ignored, the results could be devastating to the American education system. Thousands of potentially good classroom teachers could lose their jobs and many prospective teachers would mostly likely refuse to enter into the profession. One of the cons of using high stakes testing to evaluate teachers is that policymakers discard the valuable intangibles that makes up a teacher’s character. The worth of a teacher is much more than the results of high stakes testing. Such intangibles as caring teacher/student relationships, active teacher/parent connection, extra-curriculum activities-participation, attendance, role modeling for students can not measured by high stakes testing. Many teachers go far and beyond the call of duty when it comes to preparing their students for the challenges of society and work. The are kind, helpful, caring and compassionate(Suttle). Their students respect them. Releasing such dedicated teachers due to negative high stakes test results is a mistake. In stead of keeping good teachers who are sensitive to their ideas and thoughts, students most likely will receive teacher who are too test oriented and insensitive to the student's feelings. Another con of high stakes testing is that the tests do not necessarily reflect the competency of the teacher. Many teachers simply don't know how to prepare their classroom for scoring successfully on high stakes tests. According to Richard F. Elmore, a professor of Harvard School of Education, many teachers are unsure of how to integrate state standards for high stakes testing, so they engage the process blindly. This sense of blindness forces many teachers to focus on teaching test material the entire school year. Other significant aspects of the curriculum such as social studies and science are usually neglected. Such focus on teaching test material is called “teach to the test” (Walker pg 9). Critical information regarding society, people and the environment are neglected when non-tested subjects such as science and psychology are minimized during the course of a school year. No matter how competent a teacher may be, she can not make students learn if the students are not motivated, perhaps due to some external circumstances beyond school. This is another con of high stakes testing. Many minority populations, including Latinos and African Americans come from impoverished backgrounds or underprivileged schools which might limit their ability to obtain high test scores. For example, studies show that “significant gaps exist between rich and poor districts and among ethnic and culture groups”(West ed pg 1). These gaps could exist for several reasons, such as lack of adequately trained teachers, student home conditions, language barriers, poverty and the lack of interest in school. All these factors can not be measured by high stake testing. Therefore, when students fail to score successfully on such test, it is unfair to hold the teacher accountable. Student frustration is another negative factor in high stakes testing. Many students simply don't recognize the test problems. When they look at these problems, they can not recall studying math or reading problems resembling the problems on the test. Therefore, many students, especially those of underprivileged schools, simply give up and drop out of school if failing the test means not graduating. Furthermore, because graduation depends on students passing the high stakes test, many students find themselves under tremendous pressure to obtain a passing score. If they pass, they graduate but if they don't the remain in school. For many students, according to Stephanie Sandifer, the dean of instruction at Scar borough High School, the difficulty of passing portions of the high stakes test, happens because “course work doesn't align with TAKS objectives.” Therefore, even students who successful excel at academic work could still receive a low scores on high stakes test (Meyers pg 1). Another reason high stakes testing isn't fair is that the testing system is error prone. According to Professor Walt Haney of Boston college, not only does the test material fail to line up with student course work, “the correlation between TAAS reading and math test scores were higher than that between the reading and writing test” (Fair Test pg1).Such discrepancies cause problems when students attempt to pass high stakes test based on what they have learned during the course of the school year. Particularly, the studies show that African American students who passed their English classes, did not pass the English portion of the TAAS test . Several other reasons exist against using high stakes test to evaluate teachers, including test tampering and scoring mistakes. Because of the threat of decreased pay, job loss and the pressure of preparing their classroom for obtaining a passing score on high stakes test, schools or teachers may resort to unfair practices to meet the scoring standards set by the states. For example, several portions of Ohio's 4th and 8th grade assessment test had to be rewritten after students of a number of districts were caught discussing the essay questions before taking the test(Walker pg7). All in all, above are the consequences that can ruin the American Education system if policy makers don't reconsider modifying the purpose of the high stakes testing. The above cons of using high stakes test to evaluate teachers must be taken seriously. The threat of further damaging the reputation of the American Educational system should convince policymakers and state leaders to replace the consequences of high stakes testing with other measures such as teacher training. If high stakes testing is given only to assess the gaps in teachers' knowledge and skill levels, then many teachers can be trained to integrate state educational standards into the school curriculum. This will allow teachers to implement the proper materials and resources to equip students for successfully scoring on high stakes test. Therefore, states, school districts and community leaders must push for change. It doesn't matter if everybody is accepting the consequences of high stakes testing, the push for change must start with each individual school district, especially if the jobs of good teachers are going to be protected from the consequences of high stakes testing Also, school districts and community leaders must push for policies that will force policy makers to align state standards with the curriculum of school districts. As a result, thousands of undeserved student populations will be able to graduate and thousands of good teachers will be able to keep their jobs and excel I their careers. If these alternative measures are implemented, the academic value of the American Educational system will greatly improve and a great percentage of students will be adequately prepared for success in both society as well as the workforce. Works Cited Suttle, Bruce B. The Morality of Niceness: Why Educators Have A Duty to Go Beyond Their Obligations. Philosophy of Educator. Parkland College. Walker, Sherry Freeland. “High-stakes Testing: Too Much! Too Soon!” State Education Leader. 2000 v.18 ERIC Education Resources Information Center. Winter 2000. Web 22 July 2011 West Ed. Policy Brief. High-stakes testing: the high stakes of High Stakes testing. 2000 Web 22 July 2011 Meyers, Rhiannan. Galveston County. The Daily News: Expertise Systemic Problems on TAKS test. 2007 Web 22 July 2011 Fair Test. The National Center for Fair Open Testing. The Case Against TAAS. n.d. Web 22 July 2011 Read More