Standardized+Testing

= STANDARDIZED TESTING =

I. Description of Problem or Issue
Lead Editor: Katie Delaney

Standardized tests are used to evaluate students' academic standing. These examinations seem simple- take a test and get the results; however, standardized tests have an effect on funding, teachers, high school graduation, college acceptance, etc. In our research we looked into each of these factors and determined the effects that standardized tests had on each of them. We discovered that the results of the standardized tests determine if a school gets governmental funding. Standardized tests affect Rhode Island schools, because Rhode Island is a big part of Race to the Top and was granted governmental funding. The funding seems great, but critics believe that standardized tests are unfair and inaccurate. Some think standards are set too high, some think that the hired scorers are uneducated and ill-informed of scoring standards, and some think that lower class/minority students are at a disadvantage. Despite these grievances, though, the United Stated continues to use standardized tests and do not intend to change this method.

Previous Year's Findings: Standardized Testing

II. Relevance of Problem or Issue in Rhode Island Schools
Lead Editor: Sara Mazur The state of Rhode Island has been using the NECAP assessment since 2005 to meet the standards of No Child Left Behind, and more recently the standards of Race to the Top. Like any state that relies heavily on standardized testing to get funding from the government, like Rhode Island does, it is a very high stakes system that students and teachers go through. Because Rhode Island is such a small state, they rely on that funding to a large degree, which means they have to make sure their scores are meeting the standards that they should.

One of the areas that Rhode Island struggles with is Science. So to ensure that they get a lead on improving science scores on the NECAP they have partnered with Next Generation Science Standards, which is a program that will improve the states science cirriculum so that those test scores do improve and reflect positively on the state. But with this shift in cirriculum, what important content is being lost to the subjects on the test.

Rhode Islands emphasis on standardized test scores is understandable because of the large part they play in the funding that the state gets for its education department. But should a test such as the NECAP really decide all of that? What we are loosing is students that can expressive themselves creatively, or students the problem solve because those skills are not testable. This is a problem that not only Rhode Island, but the country is facing, and we need to ask ourselves if standardized tests are really the best way to evaluate students, schools, and states.

III. Relevance of Problem or Issue to the Charter Schools Movement
Lead Editor:Alexa Levesque Standardized testing is one of the motivating factors behind the creation and implementation of charter schools in the United States. Under the laws of No Child Left Behind, the creation of charter schools was mandated for areas that under perform. The idea behind this is that these schools would raise the scores to meet the NCLB standards. The hope for this policy is that by augmenting public schools with charters, all states will reach proficiency. While this is a great idea, the scores in both public and charter schools, generally, did not increase dramatically. This can be attributed to the increased enrollment of student groups like special education who are unlikely to be able to reach the benchmark of the standards, no matter how they have personally improved.

In other cases the charter schools have improved their own scores dramatically. What does this mean however for the public schools that are indeed "left behind"? In many cases, the students who go to charter schools are the ones whose parents sought out this educational option. Therefore, if this trend continues; will only the unmotivated students and parents remain in the public schools?If this is indeed the case, these schools would stand little chance to improve their test scores, making the schools unappealing to many families.

IV. Research Summary
Lead Editor:

Lia Moceri: Through legislation like the No Child Left Behind Act implemented by George W. Bush and Race to the Top developed by President Barack Obama's administration are both major legal measures that affect nationwide education greatly and emphasize standardized testing. After a report written in 1983 entitled "A Nation at Risk" declared that the American school system was in deep trouble, governments began to focus of standardized testing and bring all the students up to common standards. These tests have not been found to be completely accurate. They are scores take from only one day in a narrow range of subjects, but are very inexpensive to obtain. They are merely quantitative assessments rather than qualitative and do not accurately capture the essence of a child's learning or a classroom. Despite the fact that their accuracy is still unconfirmed, these standardized tests are the determinants of many other factors in classrooms, schools, districts, and states. For example, the success of a teacher, administrator, or school in general is based off of the student's scores, when often the tests are not even taken seriously. These scores are the means by which the staff is rated, meaning that these tests often cause job termination. Furthermore, lack of progress in schools can cause a school to be deemed "in need of improvement," and lead to conversion to charter schools, overhauling of the staff, and possibly closing all together. This causes teachers to teach only to the test, taking out of valuable class time. Also, this causes governments to focus more on low-performing schools. Race to the Top offers competitive grant money to states that comply with federal mandates of implementing common standards and better test data systems. Though the program provides money, it still inadequately provides for resources needed to make these changes and lack improvement methods. In general, the standardized testing would unify the state in terms of educational goals, however it undermined the public education system as we know it.

Katie Delaney: Based on my research, the proficiency standards for standardized tests are rather unclear. The country itself has its own set of standards based on accountability and reliability; however, each state has its own standards as well. The states' individual standards tend to be set lower than the nation-wide standards. This causes an inflation of proficiency, but when the tests are scored based on national standards, states score much lower. Also, the United States' standards are lower than international standards, which causes American students to lack basic skills that other countries acquire. Also, my research informed me that many factors play a role in a student's results- time of day, test site, and the scorers. These factors are the evidence critics use to back up their arguments against standardized testing. However, standardized testing has its pros. High scores means more funding and academic recognition of charter schools. Overall, standardized testing standards will always remain a controversial subject in the American education system.

Sara Mazur: Throughout my research the major theme was that standardized test and cirriculum in school systems do not correlate. What is being tested is not what is being taught, so many schools have to resort to changing a lot of their cirriculum to ensure that what is on the tests is being covered in the classroom. The two main areas that are lacking on the test are Reading and Science. Although there is no real set standard for what the test must cover, it is common for the areas to include reading, math, writing, and science. The science section of the test only usually only covers natural science and some biology which is a small amount of the topics covered in most schools. The reading sections of the test usually cover reading analysis and editing, but never seem to include classic literature or poetry which are subjects covered in school. The same lack of variety can be said of both the writing and math sections of the test as well. I think for us to move in the right direction we may have to incorporate more of what we learn in school everyday. Alexa Levesque: According to my research, it is extremely evident that the standards put in place since No Child Left Behind are not a true representation of how well students are learning. Never mind the argument that standardized tests are inconclusive of a student's ability, the state standards do not seem to be conclusive of anything other than the fact that no state wants to be put on a watch list. Although the idea of assessing schools every year seems reasonable, letting the individual states set their own standards only allows states to put forth the image that they want the country to see, avoiding sanctions. When these same students are tested at the national level however, they are falling frighteningly short of the NAEP standards. This means that state standards really have no actual bearing and are only used for the image of a state, not to ensure the education of its students. I believe that in order for the standardized tests to be effective, they must have some correlation between the state scores and the national scores. For this to happen there has to be some set of curriculum for the entire country, on the idea of the common core standards.

V. Group Product Overview
Lead Editor: Lia Moceri In our presentation, our group plans to open with an example of standardized testing. It will ask very specific questions pertaining only to a certain topic, demonstrating the narrowness of testing. After the initial test, we will put the answers up on the board and see how the results change, demonstrating the principle of teaching to the test. To conclude the exercise, we will ask questions about how much this test actually represents and being judged on this one set of scores. Following the activity, we will present each of our individual questions, involving what is tested, what proficiency means, what standards are being used, and what the effects of testing are.

VII. Research Questions and Reference Summaries
Lead Editor: //List your research questions and who is researching this question in this table. When each team member begins their research, you should link each question to its corresponding research page. Each researcher should start this page using the template "EDC 102 Fnl Proj Student Research."//


 * || **Research Question** || **Researcher** ||
 * 1. || What is proficiency and what is it compared to? || Katie Delaney ||
 * 2. || What are the effects of proficiency, including funding, incentives, and punishments? || Lia Moceri ||
 * 3. || How do national and state standards relate to each other? || Alexa L. ||
 * 4. || What areas are being tested, what is being overlooked? || Sara Mazur ||

VIII. Group Reaction/Opinion(s) about Issue
Lead Editor:

Lia Moceri: My strongest reaction to hearing about the many effects of standardized testing was shock that so much weight was put on one test that from my experiences as a student, was not taken seriously by the majority of participants. It is further appalling that hard-working adults lose their jobs because of that one set of numbers. I believe strongly that, as a future teacher but also as a concerned citizen, a teacher's worth should be measured by more than just one test score.

Katie Delaney: I have always had a strong opinion about standardized tests, and my research reinforced my negativity towards them. The article that had the most impact on my was the editorial. It was alarming to read that some of the people hired to score the tests are uneducated, ill-informed about test standards, and some did not even completely comprehend the English language. I think that the United States should do away with standardized tests and find a different way to evaluate students.

Sara Mazur: After doing my research I would like to say that it has changed my opinion of standardized testing, but the truth is it has not. The article that I read that got the strongest reaction out of me was the editorial that I read. It was written by a teacher who criticized the fact that standardized do not put any emphasis on classic literature. I personally think that classic literature is something that should be an important part of the curriculum at every school because you can learn so much from the characters in these books. I think the emphasis on teaching what is covered on the standardized tests around the country is a disadvantage to students because you loose the knowledge of creativity and reasoning.

Alexa Levesque: I think that if standardized tests are indeed going to be used as the benchmark for educational progress, they must be equal in difficulty. For this, the idea of a common core of standards by which all 50 states teach seems to be the best way to do this. While it is not necessary to create identical curricula in all the states, there are certain aspects that should be universally taught. For example, even with students reading all different books, they should all be taught the same ideas and themes of literature. The same goes for math, while different areas may use different teaching strategies, there should be some accepted curriculum of what topics are to be covered in each course. I think that programs along these lines are the most effective way for students to learn and succeed both in their own classes and in relation to the rest of the country and the world.