Abstract:HERE'S SOMETHING wrong with a law that brands good schools with "failing" labels, places the heaviest burdens on states that were already striving to meet challenging education goals, imposes inflexible rules, and fails to make good on promises to pay for programs that would help struggling schools meet the demands of the law. These are the features of the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, which was passed with great fanfare and hope two years ago but now is mired in complexity and is the cause of wides… Show more
“…E-mail: dominiqueshih@hotmail.com and educators have mainly debated whether high-stakes standardized testing generates positive or detrimental washback (e.g., see Cizek, 2001;Ohanian, 2001;Rich, 2003;Thompson, 2001). Although they are still at loggerheads over this issue, a resounding number of educators and researchers consider high-stakes standardized tests as inducing deleterious effects on teaching and learning (e.g., Allen, 2004;Kohn, 2000;Marshak, 2003;Popham, 2004;Thomas & Bainbridge, 2002;Wagner, 2003).…”
Within the context of Taiwan, where growing numbers of universities seek teaching excellence and better English learning outcomes, passing a designated English test has been imposed on thousands of university students as one of their degree requirements. This educational policy has become feasible only after the debut of the indigenous General English Proficiency Test (GEPT). Very few studies, however, have examined the impact of the GEPT on universities' policies. This research elicited empirical data from two applied foreign language departments of technological universities. One department did not lay down any English test as a degree requirement, whereas the other required its daytime students to pass the listening and reading tests of the GEPT's intermediate level. In each department, the department chair and two or three teachers were interviewed; in addition, departmental documents and records were reviewed. Results showed that teachers had to consider social and educational factors, school factors, and parental and student factors before they decided if they would implement their English requirement. Finally, a model is provided to portray the complexity of the GEPT's washback on departmental and school policies.
“…E-mail: dominiqueshih@hotmail.com and educators have mainly debated whether high-stakes standardized testing generates positive or detrimental washback (e.g., see Cizek, 2001;Ohanian, 2001;Rich, 2003;Thompson, 2001). Although they are still at loggerheads over this issue, a resounding number of educators and researchers consider high-stakes standardized tests as inducing deleterious effects on teaching and learning (e.g., Allen, 2004;Kohn, 2000;Marshak, 2003;Popham, 2004;Thomas & Bainbridge, 2002;Wagner, 2003).…”
Within the context of Taiwan, where growing numbers of universities seek teaching excellence and better English learning outcomes, passing a designated English test has been imposed on thousands of university students as one of their degree requirements. This educational policy has become feasible only after the debut of the indigenous General English Proficiency Test (GEPT). Very few studies, however, have examined the impact of the GEPT on universities' policies. This research elicited empirical data from two applied foreign language departments of technological universities. One department did not lay down any English test as a degree requirement, whereas the other required its daytime students to pass the listening and reading tests of the GEPT's intermediate level. In each department, the department chair and two or three teachers were interviewed; in addition, departmental documents and records were reviewed. Results showed that teachers had to consider social and educational factors, school factors, and parental and student factors before they decided if they would implement their English requirement. Finally, a model is provided to portray the complexity of the GEPT's washback on departmental and school policies.
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