Testing with High Stakes

Activity 3: High Stakes Assessments

Module 6: Student Assessments | Unit 1: Types and Purposes of Assessment

High Stakes Assessment ties incentives and punishment to test scores or tasks. "A high-stakes test is any test used to make important decisions about students, educators, schools, or districts, most commonly for the purpose of accountability—i.e., the attempt by federal, state, or local government agencies and school administrators to ensure that students are enrolled in effective schools and being taught by effective teachers."(Abbott, S.,  2014)

Assessments are ways of measuring student performance or understanding. Teachers measure students by having students: 

• take a test
• create something (i.e., portfolio, report, graphs, dioramas, videos, blogs, presentations)
• provide answers to questions on homework or exit tickets
• discuss with peers, teacher or self on a certain topic (journals, conversations, and partner talk)
• perform a task (build a roller coaster model)
  
  

Teachers measure for 2 reasons: To inform and guide teaching OR to assess final learning. We call the informing reason for measuring Formative Assessment. When students are measured for final learning, we call this Summative Assessment.

High Stakes Assessment is a form of Summative Assessment that is connected to direct consequences like a large portion of student's grade, ability to be promoted or graduate, or their placement into certain classes or colleges, teacher's pay or retention, district funding and ranking, or educational policy. 

 

 

Popular Forms of High Stakes Assessment are:

• SAT or ACT exam
• High School Exit Exam
• AMP,  MAP, or State Standardized Tests
• High School Finals

Less High Stakes but still somewhat High Stakes Assessment are:

• Unit Tests
• Chapter Tests
• Formal Quizzes 

High Stake Assessment are given in a variety of forms: 

• Multiple Choice
• Short Answer
• Essay
• Interviews

Pros of High Stakes Assessment

 

Where as different schools, programs, and teachers might measure their grades on different scales, the process of standardized tests have very specific and standard questions to measure all students on the same scale. The questions are very specific to math and language arts showing strength and lack of exposure based those standardized questions. Tests are a way to measure students and one way of a system trying to look for certain elite qualities for positions of competition like college entrance or job placement. 

Cons of High Stakes Assessment

 

High Stakes Assessment places exceedingly strong consequences for the outcome of very specific and objective tasks or questions. Funding, teacher retention, students graduation and educational policy take priority over individual students learning or passions and create an environment that is very focused and judgmental. High stakes assessment are designed by companies and consultants that are not in "the line of fire" and are not directly connected to the results. Expectations are high and not representative of the student body. An example question might be tied to golf scores and a student from the ghetto or ELL might not have had exposure to what "par" or "birdie" vocabulary yet these are essential vocabulary words to complete the task. Now the New Common Core State Standard tests like (PARCC or Smarter Balance) are too advanced in thinking and overlook the simplicity of certain tasks like multiplication and addition so a correct answer must be very wordy to include things like "moving up a number line" and "grouping of sets of numbers" while the more difficult tasks require students to complete multiple steps in order to select multiple options of representation. 

Are these tests too hard? Smarter Balance and PARCC Assessment Test Tasks Explained...

 

 

Is it really informing instruction or is it connected to High Stakes outcomes? Aren't we tying a lot to these difficult tasks?

 

 

Thoughts for Reform.... 

Although I see the value in having SMART objectives and I understand the importance in measuring objectives through assessment, I certainly feel that high stakes are taking out some opportunities for learning alternatively or creatively. The focus and stress of meeting increasingly high standards continues to push all countries and people to excel. This constant pressure will continue to increase standards in a competitive world. 

What I have not been able to find is the comparing current US graduation to past US graduation? So since we have moved down in international ranking does that really mean the we are not being successful. The founding for the high stakes testing says that education is high predictor of future success for our country but weren't we founded on the backs of middle class and Christian folks working hard and not test scores.

Connections to My Alaska Local Schools

Alaska has eliminated six standardized tests: the high school graduation exam (three tests) and the TerraNova exam (three tests) education. Alaska recently did have a High School Exit Exam that kept may students from receiving their diploma after meeting the high school credits. After adjusting the policy and removing the High School Exit Exam like other states including California, legislature and policy have been revised to grant those graduates who did not pass their exam the diploma retroactively due the unfairness of new graduates being able to receive diplomas without the exit exam. Unfortunately there is not a lot of funding to bring awareness and light to award past graduates their diploma, so many past graduates continue to function without a diploma. Students must take the initiative to make connect to request the diploma. California has also retroactively awarded diplomas to all students since they too have removed the exit exam.

Matanuska-Susitna  Borough School District (my school district) currently uses the AMP (Alaska Measures of Progress) and the NWEA MAP (Measures of Academic Progress) for end of year and semester testing respectively. The AMP recently replaced the TerraNova Standards Based Assessments (SBA) test. 

"The Alaska Measures of Progress are not high-stakes tests. The only consequence for students who score low on an AMP test should be to receive support to improve their learning. The AMP test scores should not affect graduation, classroom grades, grade promotion, or college entrance."(Education.Alaska.gov, 2015)

MAP scores are used to assist student placement in classes remedial, regular, or advanced.
 
Reality: Teacher evaluations, school evaluations and district evaluations seem heavily influenced and stressed about the results of these "measures of progress". As a teacher, I have already felt the need to improve our test scores and the direction of the new test and my evaluation as a teacher by my administration.

Conclusion 

We do need to have measurable goals, accountability for students and teachers, and even tiered classrooms at times but when the stakes are too high it is possible to loss sight of the individuals we are teaching and the love for learning if we are not careful. "You can't force a horse to drink when it doesn't want to drink." Students are diverse learners and students have other needs that need to be met first sometimes. When we put all our efforts only one goal, we force division and create our own demise because their is no alternative.

References: 

Alaska Department of Education and Early Development. (2015) Why we test? Retrieved on February 2, 2016 from https://education.alaska.gov/tls/Assessments/AMPresources/ForEducators_WhyWeTest.pdf

Hidden curriculum (2014, August 26). In S. Abbott (Ed.), The glossary of education reform. Retrieved on February 2, 2016 from http://edglossary.org/high-stakes-testing/

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