High Stakes Testing Research Paper

The Unintended Consequences of High Stakes Testing

Since the beginning of the 20th century some form of high stakes standardized testing has existed in the United States. Test use has ranged from determining acceptance or rejection of an immigrant to enter the U.S. to declaring a citizen competent to enter the military. So, for nearly a century, high stakes testing has had significant rewards and consequences associated with it. Standardized testing of student comprehension and competency has long been involved with K-12 education, but has lacked the association with high stakes. In 1983, the National Commission on Education released "A Nation At Risk", "which called for an end to the minimum competency testing movement and beginning of high stakes testing movement that would raise the nation's standards of achievement drastically". Within the last decade many policymakers have adopted legislatures in their own states requiring the use of high stakes testing to help determine accountability in their school systems. Many times these high stakes tests determine whether a student advances to the next grade level or even graduates high school. The American Psychological Association (APA) states that the potential problem with current increased emphasis on high stakes testing is not necessarily the test per se, but the instances when tests have unintended and potentially negative consequences for individual students, groups of students, or the
First, the APA states that measuring what and how well students learn is an important building block in the process of strengthening and improving our nation's schools. Secondly, test results provide teachers with information on how individual students may be performing and provide feedback. Lastly, high stakes testing provides accountability, and therefore can help identify weaknesses and correct