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Debating Naitonal Education Tests: Testing Does More Harm Than Good
| Article
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19700 |
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Section : |
CURRENT ISSUES
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| Issue
Date : |
9 / 1991 |
2,353 Words |
| Author
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Mary H. Shann
Mary H. Shann is associate professor of education at Boston
University. |
Proponents of national achievement tests argue that the quality of American schooling will be improved if we set standards, measure their attainment, and hold schools accountable to them. As logical and laudable as this position might seem, present evidence about the effects of educational testing indicates that serious negative consequences could ensue from the premature enactment of a national testing program. The nature of the tests, what they actually measure, what kind of teaching and learning they promote, and how they will be used all need to be considered before endorsing the president's plan to institute national testing by 1994.
National testing in the name of educational reform is not a new idea, but it appears to be an idea whose time has come. An overwhelming majority (77 percent) of the American public favors the use of standardized national tests to measure student achievement, according to the results of a recent Gallup poll, and almost as many (69 percent) favor a national curriculum. Some 37 states elected to participate in the 1990 Trial State Assessments in conjunction with the National Assessment of Educational Progress, and 42 states plan to do so in 1992. The National Assessment Governing Board and the Council of Chief State School Officers have endorsed reporting the results of individual districts and schools.
While the idea that higher student achievement will follow from national tests enjoys widespread support, the impact of such testing needs to be examined more critically. Before this nation mounts a well-intentioned but misguided effort to improve American education, we need to consider how the plan is informed by research. Fortunately, there is a wealth of evidence about the effects of educational testing in the United States and elsewhere. This article summarizes research evidence on the effects of existing mandatory statewide standardized testing programs that are used to make important decisions about students and to evaluate schools based on their students' test performance.
The Consequences of High Stakes Testing
Efforts to reform American education have increasingly centered on the use of standardized tests. The strategy has logical appeal; the problem is that what stands to reason doesn't always work. The effect of state-mandated testing is a case in point. Rather than raising standards, the practice has depressed them to what is measurable. As attested by the National Commission on Excellence in Education, the minimum became the maximum, thus lowering educational standards for all.
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