Dallas Morning News: Authors cite low rate of improvement, effects on minority students
Study faults high-stakes testing
Authors cite low rate of improvement, effect on minorities
09:59 PM CDT on Tuesday, September 20, 2005
By TERRENCE STUTZ / The Dallas Morning News
AUSTIN – High-stakes testing in Texas and across the nation has had little impact on student achievement and is disproportionately targeting minority students – as evidenced by increased retention and dropout rates in many states – according to a study by researchers in Texas and Arizona.
The study, which examined the impact of high-stakes testing in Texas and 24 other states, found “no convincing evidence” that the pressure associated with those tests – such as threatened sanctions for low scores – produced better student achievement than would otherwise have been expected.
“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.
E-mail tstutz@dallasnews.com
Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/092105dntextesting.1294db47.html
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