High Stakes
Assessments (HSA)
Why are High
Stakes Assessments mandatory? Why do these high stakes assessments determine
whether a child is progressing or still falling behind? Isn’t possible that
students really have test anxiety? Isn’t it possible that high stakes
assessments really does not measure student’s ability to learn, retain, and
apply academic knowledge? I am that I am
not the only educator in this world that is boggles by mandated testing, and
meeting state testing standards. Not only are educators like myself concerned
about high stakes assessments, but so are parents, and students. I remember
when I was getting ready to start my journey in preparing to apply for college
and one of the requirements was that I had to take either the SAT or ACT test.
I remember
being depress, and anxious because I knew that I was not a good test taker. I
also remember studying for two test and seeing words that concepts that I had
never learned in school, and yet I was expected to meet the score requirements
to be accepted into the schools I had applied for. I always felt that these
test did not prove my lack up education or understanding, rather it made me
feel that I was not capable because of its level of difficultly. I remember
begin an honor roll student in school, and then making a low score on my state
test and feeling like my 3.5 GPA meant nothing because so much emphasis was
placed on getting the qualifying scores on the test.
How High Stakes
Assessments Affects Students
High Stakes
Assessments are academically demanding, and can cause a lot of anxiety and
stress in teachers and students. However I do think that some students are
motivated and understand that the rewards and benefits of meeting scores
requirements on these types of assessments have benefits. Consequently, those
students that are not motivated “are usually identified as low socioeconomic
students in urban school, often African American and Latinos (Amrein &
Berliner, 2003).” Thus what can we do as educators, administrators, and policy
makers to make high stakes assessments more meaningful and purposeful to all
students so that they are all given an equal opportunity to experience and reap
the rewards of performing well on the tests? High Stakes test have been known
to decrease students motivation and lead to higher student retention and
dropout rates (Amrein & Berliner, 2003). On the other hand, it is possible
for students performance on high stakes test to improve through curriculum
development, and implementing lessons that are not only aligned with state
standards, but also align with skills and knowledge of content covered on the tests. The down fall of this
type of learning is that “the curriculum that is being taught may make heavy
use of drill activities tied to the state test (Amrein & Berliner, 2003).
Thus students who are more likely to drop out with drop out leaving behind
mostly good performing students to boost test scores. In my mind this goes
against the No Child Left Behind Act passed by congress in 2001. High stakes
testing can run the risk of reducing student motivation to learn and driving
them out of our schools, which means more and more of our youth will be in the
community; this can lead to higher crime rates and drug abuse. Although there
is a lot of good that comes from testing, it needs to be implemented in such a
way were it guides and builds instruction rather than making the learning
process hard for struggling learning and those students with lower
socioeconomic status.
Implications of High
Stakes Assessments in Schools
1. High Stakes testing can be unfair to
students who are English Language Learners and who having learning
disabilities. This population of students fails on high stakes assessments more
frequently than there non- learning disabled peers.
2. Some students do not test well and
have test anxiety.
3. Some students do not show learning
well on test.
4. School districts may not have
resources and funding to afford proper learning resources and supports for
students learning therefore some students do not have a fair opportunity at the
test.
5. Teaching to the test produces a
classroom climate and style of teaching that is ineffective and turns many
students off to learning.
6. Teaching to the test does not produce
real and sustained gains on independent learning measures. Teaching to the test
does not work if the goal is high-quality learning.
Rewards Given for
high Performers
1. Students can be accepted into
post-secondary education and trade programs
2. Teachers may receive some stipend or
bonus as reward
3. Students may receive monetary gifts
Comparison of High
Stakes Assessments with Other Schools
The High
Stakes Assessment that I will illustrate in this section will be from The
National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is the largest nationally
representative and continuing assessment of what America's students know and
can do in various subject areas. The main assessments of the NAEP are arts,
civic, economic, foreign language, geography, mathematics, reading, science,
technology & engineering literacy, U.S. History, world history and writing.
In particular I will look at reading and mathematics of 4th and 8th
graders. According to the NAEP Nations Report Card in 2015 the scores for 4th
and 8th grade students was lower than in 2013 and 1990. The 2015
average scores were 1 and 2 points lower in grades 4 and 8, respectively, than
the average scores in 2013. Scores at both grades were higher than those from
the earliest mathematics assessments in 1990 by 27 points at grade 4 and 20
points at grade 8. Also, in reading the 2015 scores did not differentiate at
grade 4 and lower at grade 8 than in 2013; scores higher than in 1992 at both
grades. The 2015 average score was not significantly different at grade 4 and
was 2 points lower at grade 8 compared to 2013. Scores at both grades were
higher in 2015 than those from the earliest reading assessments in 1992 by 6
points at grade 4 and 5 points at grade 8.In the District of Columbia fourth
graders increased in both subject areas (math and reading), however in the
state of Maryland fourth and eighth graders decreased in both math and reading
NAEP assessments. On a district level DCPS increased in both subjects for
fourth grade, Miami-Dade increased in mathematics for fourth grade and
mathematics for eighth graders, and Hillsborough County (FL) decreased in both
subject areas for fourth and eighth grade.
High Stakes
Assessments in Candidate’s School
I am
currently working at a high performing academic high school, one of the top
performing schools in the state. High Stakes Assessments are very important for
the students, and teachers in my school. All of the students at my school score
very well on their state assessments and SAT test;
they are all
accepted into college and receive numerous scholarships for post-secondary
education. We have a 99% proficiency in mathematics and a 98% proficiency in English
compared to the district levels which are 44% for math and 46% for reading.
Furthermore, the academic achievers at my school just recently took their
Advanced Placement Exams. Of the 25 students that took the AP exam 24 received the
passing score. Most recently the general education students took the PAARC exam
and 25% of the student body met and or exceeded the expectations for ELA, and
for Math 32% of the students met the PAARC expectations.
References:
The
Dangerous Consequences of High-Stakes Standardized Testing. (2007, December
17). Retrieved June 05, 2016, from http://www.fairtest.org/dangerous-consequences-highstakes-standardized-tes
http://profiles.dcps.dc.gov/Benjamin+Banneker+High+School
http://www.nationsreportcard.gov/reading_math_2015/#mathematics/about?grade=4
