We've heard from educators, parents and students about how high-stakes testing is getting in the way of engaging instruction in our schools. Read some of their stories on this page, and send us your own accounts about the impact of testing in your school or classroom.
Testimonial from English teacher Bonnee Breese
Test grades only take a snapshot of those hours, on those particular days in a child's life. But with the community of learners that I serve, at any moment of their days, their whole lives can be turned upside down.
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Reflections on Testing—Helen Gym, parent, Philadelphia
My most immediate concern about high-stakes testing is the way it has dumbed down the curriculum, and that has been the most painful, difficult thing for me to deal with. I feel like there is such a drive for test-prep.
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Testimonial from Janet, teacher, New Mexico
Teaching and learning are being sacrificed to the data trend in education. Teachers are drowning in data entry, disaggregation and analysis,and in the ballooning number of tests of all kinds, many inappropriate and badly made, in the quest to get yet more data.
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Testimonial from Brandon, a recent high school graduate
Overall, I think standardized testing is just another reason to close stuff down, and/or remake schools and stuff like that. It was kind of frustrating, because I felt like the entire school year was built around the test. There were a few ways that that was the case.
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Testimonial from Jenette, teacher, Texas
We use our student scores to form improvement plans for our campus as well as to evaluate areas of strength and weaknesses. Our school is given a rating based on student test scores. I feel that too much emphasis is placed on standardized test scores, causing us to give up valuable teaching time in preparation and administration of the tests.
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Testimonial from Todd, teacher, Pennsylvania
At my school, student data is most certainly being used to drive instruction. However, I would hardly classify instruction lately as learning.
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