Standardized testing based on high stakes is commonly used in accountability narratives. It is considered a tool that helps in promoting racial equality in schools, especially when it uses the frameworks of neoliberal multiculturalism and racial projects. The article is reliable in the research since it uses empirical and historical research to argue that high-stake standardized testing further inequality in education, but it can also reduce inequality. It does this through other anti-racism forms constitutive to be part of the neoliberal projects in reforming education. Mixing high-stake testing, neoliberalism and anti-racism are commonly used in identifying radicalized and structural inequalities, and these are manifestations of meritocracy 2.0 (Au 55). The last decades have made America experience conservative modernization. Modernization has been seen as a way of reshaping public education along the free-market capitalism lines. Thus, the article’s evidence is effective since it has several policy initiatives such as the development of the school, voucher programs, and an increase in school choice to solve the inequality problem in different sectors.
Different people have distinct views about the role that standardized tests play in education. Some people think that it is biased, while others believe that it is not biased. Standardized tests are an evaluation tool that determines the cognitive skills that individuals have and the quality of their school. The article is reliable since it states that standardized testing causes a lot of stress and anxiety since the students are always studying. It also shows the teacher’s views where they state that the tests are too much and take away their social skills (Lank n.d). The evidence in the article is reliable since it looks at different experiences that people have concerning standardized tests. For instance, Josi Cook, a mother of two, is taken with children in high and middle schools, and she says that her daughter is focused on her studies and is always studying, but her son only studies when he has a test. Its shows that the tests put a lot of pressure on the students.
COVID 19 pandemic has continued to affect different people in distinct ways. The vaccines continue to be distributed across the United States of America and its territories.
The article is reliable since three vaccines, made from Johnson and Johnson, Moderna, and Pfizer-BioNTech, have been authorized to be used during emergencies, and they have been part of the distribution process, which has been done through standardized testing. The first shot of these vaccines was given on December 14, 2019. On 10 May, the Pfizer vaccine was authorized to be sued for children aged 12 to 15 by the Food and Drug Administration (Haseman n.d). The centers for Disease Control and prevention expert vaccine committee claimed that the children could get the shots of this vaccine together with other routine vaccinations. The evidence in the article is effective since it shows how standardized testing has been an evaluation tool to help deal with the COVID 19 pandemic. It has been easier to track the distribution of vaccines, and it has intensified more research on these same vaccines.
Recent research has been conducted, and it has discovered that high-stakes standardized testing has negatively played a role in the segregation of children in the classroom based on their race and the schools where they go. The article is reliable, and it helps teach more about the topic since it reviews the overall research on the impacts that segregation has. It looks at both the negative and positive aspects of these desegregation plans before and their impact today. The desegregation plans in the past were based on Supreme Court rulings such as Brown vs. Board of education and de facto re-segregation plans that have dismantled most of the desegregation activities (Knoester and Wayne 12). The article’s evidence is effective since it analyzes these impacts using high-stakes standardized testing. It shows the growing intensity and importance of American practice and policy, especially during the recent school re-segregation period.
The article uses different evidence to show the intrinsic features of high-stakes testing when combined with the existing school choice systems. The evidence works as a mechanism for racial codes to solve the inequality problem in the education sector.
During the 21st century, standardized tests have been the primary means of evaluating schools and teachers in the United States of America. This has led to several dilemmas, such as low-level instruction, and misleading information based on what the students know. Biased teaching and even unfair treatment of the teachers, and possible solutions that are looked at to alleviate the concerns related to high-stakes testing (Morgan 70). The article is reliable since it provides a deeper understanding of the topic and shows how successful problem solving is done. It is important to learn problem-solving strategies and standardized retesting helps in solving some of these concerns. The evidence in the article is effective since it shows that high-stakes learning does not improve education since it drives both the teachers and students away from learning and even from school on other occasions. It also impoverishes and weakens the curriculum as if it fosters different forms of instruction that fail to engage the students or support high-quality learning.
The article is important in the research since it aims to capture the community’s sense of standardized testing. It also provides implications of the global policies. Standardized tests are important since they provide a lot of information and evidence about validity. However, there can also be incorrect interpretations of the data, but these can be reduced if the quality of tests fulfills the requirements of standardized assessments. Other issues are highlighted through critical approaches. Standardized tests in school math have a limited scope since they undermine the ability to encourage open classroom problems (Olfos et al. 673). The abilities to collaborate are also devalued through standardized testing, and even the need to engage in real-world experiences is not correctly done. Tests create competition in schools, and standardized tests are not an excellent evaluation tool since they create test anxiety, and the students do not account for any form of diversity.
It is believed that some nations are doing better than the United States of America in terms of education. The argument is mainly based on the test scores. However, it is unclear what is being evaluated when these scores are compared. The knowledge and skills base can be accurately measured using a standardized test, and the materials are the easiest to teach. The article is useful in the research since it uses examples to show how standardized testing works as an evaluation tool (Popham n.d). For instance, Popham writes a
personal experience when he went to St. John’s College and found out that there were approximately 12 students in all classes in the small seminars. The materials were debated and discussed by the students. The professor was a guide to facilitate the discussion. It was clear that the students could use logical thinking, textual support, and other forms of pieces of evidence in their arguments.
These problems lead to unfair test scores. The article looks at the problems associated with standardized tests and why they are not the best evaluation tools. It looks at a Florida court verdict that showed the problems standardized tests have within the judicial systems. Some of the problems of standardized tests are that it has led to neglect of music, art, play, and other nonverbal learning methods. It also has hidden problems created through the margin-of-error computations when it comes to scoring, and it gives control of the curriculum to the test manufacturers (Strauss n.d). Standardized tests also encourage bribes, thefts, and other extrinsic motivators for the score to be raised. It shows that standardized tests have more harm than good. The education policy shaped by standardized tests leads to some societal needs, which leads to human survival. Many processes are used to generate new knowledge.
Some pro-standardized testing advocates think that it is a no-brainer. Teachers must try to know where they are with the students in terms of learning but giving them standardized tests is not the answer. Instead, they should respond to the students’ needs and provide them with curriculum-embedded assessments and other instructional tasks. The benefits of the existing test products have been massively exaggerated. The summary scores for the multiple-choice questions cover an entire year worth of content to help the teachers know the specific skills that the students have mastered. The article is excellent since it shows why standardized tests should not be used in education and their implications for the students (Strauss n.d). Relationships and student identities are important in learning and development, and the article argues that standardized tests do not support these. They do not help recognize the students and their strengths, and it does not lead to purposeful academic learning. The article also uses real-life evidence based on the statewide diagnostic assessments that have been advocated for by Charles Barone and Nicholas Munyan-Penney.
The article assesses the validity and use of standardized achievement tests for summative education of 78 education intervention projects. The IES (Institute of Education Sciences) funds all these projects using the math and science education program. Forty-six projects have been evaluated, and they are based on the curricular interventions with the standardized achievement tests as part of the outcome measures. Twenty-five of these projects had validity issues from the research, and they were related to misalignment between intervention and achievement tests. A close analysis of the 11 projects showed a high risk of validity problems where only six projects were used in the validity test (Sussman & Wilson 200). The article concludes that the incorrect use of achievement tests threatens the validity of the evaluations in education. It shows that standardized tests are not evaluation tests. Thus, innovation needs to be supported, and the evaluators must pay more attention to the validity of the outcome measures used.
The article is mainly about an English teacher who is known as Cynthia Ruzz. She is the type of teacher everyone wishes they had. There have even low scores and demands from Texas to give the students more tests to help them prepare. Most students spent their time cramming and remedial classes since passing STAAR was crucial for them to graduate (Swartz n.d). STAAR evaluated the students’ progress, and the scores evaluated the teachers, principals, and schools. The test excluded many students from studying, and it was evident that it was not a good test. Thus, standardized tests show more harm to the students than help them.
References
Au, Wayne. “Meritocracy 2.0: High-Stakes Standardized Testing as a Racial Project of Neoliberal Multiculturalism.” Educational Policy, vol. 30, no. 1, 2016, pp. 39–62.
Haseman, Janie. “Tracking COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution by State: How Many People in the US Have Received a Shot?” USA Today: Latest World and US News, 2021. Web.
Knoester, Matthew, and Wayne Au. “Standardized Testing and School Segregation: Like Tinder for Fire?”. Race Ethnicity and Education, vol 20, no.1, 2015, pp. 1-14. Informa UK Limited.
Lank, Z. O. “Teachers Explain How Standardized Testing Causes Stress on Students.” WFSB, 2020. Web.
Morgan, Hani. “Relying on High-Stakes Standardized Tests to Evaluate Schools and Teachers: A Bad Idea.” The Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues, and Ideas, vol 89, no.2, 2016, pp. 67-72. Informa UK Limited. Web.
Olfos, Raimundo et al. “Scope of Standardized Tests.” Proceedings of the 13Th International Congress on Mathematical Education, vol 17, no. 17, 2017, pp. 673-674. Springer International Publishing.
Popham, G. Standardized Testing Misses the Mark When It Comes to Student’s Cognitive Competency. Huffpost, 2017. Web.
Strauss, V. 34 problems with standardized tests. The Washington Post, 2017. Web.
Strauss, V. Why teachers should not give kids standardized tests when school starts. The Washington Post, 2020. Web.
Sussman, Joshua, and Mark R. Wilson. “The Use and Validity of Standardized Achievement Tests for Evaluating New Curricular Interventions in Mathematics and Science”. American Journal of Evaluation, vol 40, no. 2, 2018, pp. 190-213. SAGE Publications. Web.
Swartz, M. Are Texas Kids Failing? Or Are the Tests Rigged? Texas Monthly Magazine, 2019. Web.