High-Stakes Testing and Student Achievement: Does Accountability Pressure Increase Student Learning?

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between high-stakes testing pressure and student achievement across 25 states. Standardized portfolios were created for each study state. Each portfolio contained a range of documents that told the "story" of accountability implementation and impact in that state. Using the "law of comparative judgments," over 300 graduate-level education students reviewed one pair of portfolios and made independent evaluations as to which of the two states' portfolios reflected a greater degree of accountability pressure. Participants' judgments yielded a matrix that was converted into a single rating system that arranged all 25 states on a continuum of accountability "pressure" from high to low. Using this accountability pressure rating we conducted a series of regression and correlation analyses. We found no relationship between earlier pressure and later cohort achievement for math at the fourth-and eighth-grade levels on the National Assessment of Educational Progress tests. Further, no relationship was 2 found between testing pressure and reading achievement on the National Assessment of Education Progress tests at any grade level or for any ethnic student subgroup. Data do suggest, however, that a case could be made for a causal relationship between high-stakes testing pressure and subsequent achievement on the national assessment tests-but only for fourth grade, non-cohort achievement and for some ethnic subgroups. Implications and directions for future studies are discussed.

Risk-based school inspections: impact of targeted inspection approaches on Dutch secondary schools

“…The operating assumption in these studies is that schools work harder to perform well when something valuable is to be gained or lost; information and feedback alone are seen as insufficient to motivate schools to perform to high standards (Malen 1999;Elmore and Fuhrman 2001;Nichols et al 2006). Weak and very weak schools that fail to improve within 2 years after the first assessment can be put forward for financial and/or administrative sanctions by the Ministry of Education, while they are also placed on a list of failing schools on the internet to inform the local community and parents.…”

Critical thinking for 21st-century education: A cyber-tooth curriculum?

“…A further dimension to the European competences approach lies in the development of indicators or assessments to track progress towards these objectives. Whilst this may be understandable from a political or accountability perspective, from an educational viewpoint it raises the possibility of high-stakes assessments (Nichols, Glass, and Berliner 2006) and a scenario of tests involving critical thinking items and performance monitoring of pupils' progress. We are already starting to see the effects of including problem-solving in the PISA framework (Dohn 2007).…”

Education Reform, Equal Opportunity and Educational Achievement: Do Trend Data Adequately Report Progress?

“…They contend that standards and state systems of accountability have created a situation wherein teachers teach to the test rather than challenge students to reach their potential. The extant literature contains a growing body of literature that offers evidence that students from underrepresented populations are taught by less qualified teachers and attend deteriorating schools that are characterized by racial and socioeconomic isolation (Author, 2007;Darling-Hammond, 1997), that testing may actually work to the disadvantage of minority groups (Berliner, 2005;Amrein & Berliner, 2002;Nichols & Berliner, 2005;Nichols, Glass & Berliner, 2006;AAUW, 1992;Haney, 1983;Oakes, 1990Oakes, , 1986Oakes, , 1985Pearson & Garcia, 1994) and that the accountability systems currently in place have not effectively linked the testing system to content standards (Finn & Kanstoroom, 2001). Intergenerational poverty and the accompanying lack of social or political capital have led many to profess that the problems caused by these circumstances cannot be solved by schools alone (Berliner, 2005;Jordan & Cooper, 2003;Levin & Kelley, 1994).…”

“…A growing body of literature suggests that the unwillingness of schools to change in order to achieve the goals of social justice that are part of the standards-based reform have disillusioned those populations for whom the policy was designed to help most (Fennimore, 2005;Howard, 2000). Nichols, Glass & Berliner (2006) state that although the literature base is growing with regard to the unintended consequences of high stakes testing, existing research on the relationship between high-stakes testing and its intended impact is mixed and inconclusive.…”