"A rapidly growing body of research evidence on the harmful effects of high-stakes testing, along with no reliable evidence of improved performance by students, suggests that we need a moratorium in public education on the use of high-stakes testing," said Sharon L. Nichols of the University of Texas at San Antonio, lead author of the report.
The study, released Tuesday by the Education Policy Studies Laboratory
at Arizona State University, was undertaken to gauge the impact of the
federal No Child Left Behind Act. States are required under the law to
administer standardized tests that are used to hold schools and school
districts accountable for student achievement.
Dr. Nichols and the research team reached their conclusions by creating a so-called Pressure Rating Index that ranked states based on how much pressure they put on schools to improve test scores. Texas had the highest index – based on tougher requirements and other factors – and Kentucky had the lowest among the 25 states.
Scores of each state on the National Assessment of Educational Progress were then evaluated against the indexes to determine whether a higher level of pressure on schools produced higher scores on the national test.
"The theory of action implied by this accountability program is that the pressure of high-stakes testing will increase student achievement," the researchers said. "But this study finds that pressure created by high-stakes testing has had almost no important influence on student academic performance."
Among the key findings of the study, titled "High-Stakes Testing and
Student Achievement: Problems for the No Child Left Behind Act," were:
•States with greater proportions of minority students implemented
accountability systems that exerted greater pressure on educators and
their schools. An unintended consequence is that problems associated
with high-stakes testing disproportionately affect minority students.
•Increased testing pressure is related to increased retention and
dropout rates. High-stakes testing in some states has increased the
number the number of students – beginning with the eighth grade – who
will leave school before their senior year in high school.
•Reading scores on the NAEP – administered in grades four and eight –
did not improve as a result of increased testing pressure. That finding was consistent across all ethnic groups. While there was a weak correlation between pressure and fourth-grade math scores, researchers said the connection was more likely the result of "teaching to the test."
Dr. Nichols said Tuesday that while all states fall under the basic
mandates of the No Child Left Behind Act, states have discretion in
meeting the requirements – such as the minimum percentage of students
that must pass the state achievement test for the school campus or
district to hit annual improvement targets.
In Texas, schools must show "Adequate Yearly Progress" on the Texas
Assessment of Knowledge and Skills.
Unlike Texas, which puts most of the emphasis on TAKS scores, Kentucky
considers other criteria such as teacher evaluations of students,
according to Dr. Nichols.
This year, nearly 87 percent of school districts and 77 percent of
campuses in Texas made adequate progress under the federal law. Both
figures were down sharply from a year ago because of tougher standards
that took effect in the 2004-05 school year. For example, more students had to pass the math and reading sections of the TAKS.
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