The paradoxes of high stakes testing : how they affect students, their parents, teachers, principals, schools, and society

Bibliographic Information

The paradoxes of high stakes testing : how they affect students, their parents, teachers, principals, schools, and society

George Madaus, Michael Russell, Jennifer Higgins

Information Age Pub., c2009

  • : pbk.
  • : hbk

Available at  / 5 libraries

Search this Book/Journal

Note

Includes bibliographical references (p. 223-250) and index

Contents of Works

  • The high-stakes testing mania
  • Why has testing become so important?
  • What is a test?
  • What human and cultural factors affect test performance?
  • What technical issues affect test validity?
  • Why is it important to regard testing as a technology?
  • Why is the history of testing important?
  • What are the paradoxical consequences of high-stakes testing?
  • What is the future of testing?
  • Why and how should high-stakes testing be monitored?

Description and Table of Contents

Description

The book's goal is to clarify for parents, the public, and policy makers what high stakes tests are and how their use affects our schools, children, and society. It explores the various uses, limitations, and paradoxical consequences of high stakes testing. The present context of testing and the reauthorization of No Child Left Behind make the proposed book timely and important. Current testing programs provide valuable information to teachers, parents, and policy-makers about students, schools, and school systems. But paradoxically, these programs have unintended yet predictable negative consequences for many students, teachers, and schools. It is essential that the public and policy-makers understand the scope and impacts that result from the inherent paradoxical nature of high-stakes testing. Testing is viewed by policy makers across party lines as an ""objective"" measure of student attainment and has become their tool of choice to drive educational ""reform"" and hold children, teachers, schools, and districts accountable. Bipartisan support for test-based accountability is firm. For example, on January of 2005 President Bush called on Congress to extend NCLB testing in math and science to freshmen, sophomores and juniors citing poor performance among high school students as a ""warning and a call to action."" (NYT 01/ 13/05) Senator Kennedy, a critic of the President, nonetheless supported the President's proposed high school testing provisions.

Table of Contents

  • Acknowledgements
  • 1 The High-Stakes Testing Mania
  • 2 Why Has Testing Become So Important?
  • 3 What Is a Test?
  • 4 What Human and Cultural Factors Affect Test Performance?
  • 5 What Technical Issues Affect Test Validity?
  • 6 Why Is It Important to Regard Testing As a Technology?
  • 7 Why Is the History of Testing Important?
  • 8 What Are the Paradoxical Consequences of High-Stakes Testing?
  • 9 What Is the Future of Testing?
  • 10 Why and How Should High-Stakes Testing Be Monitored?
  • Bibliography.

by "Nielsen BookData"

Details

  • NCID
    BA89111537
  • ISBN
    • 9781607520276
    • 9781607520283
  • Country Code
    us
  • Title Language Code
    eng
  • Text Language Code
    eng
  • Place of Publication
    Charlotte, N.C.
  • Pages/Volumes
    viii, 254 p.
  • Size
    24 cm
  • Classification
  • Subject Headings
Page Top