Assessment of student performance is a critical part of education. The standardization of assessments creates a systematic method of evaluating performance. However, the standardized student performance measures at the center of the modern US education system have issues that preclude the results from being an accurate determination of teacher effectiveness, true student knowledge, and student progress in learning. Those issues include a small sample size, forced focus on test preparation, and lack of tests in all subjects. Therefore, while standardized test results may be included as a small part of teacher evaluation in the future, it should not be a major factor in determining the effectiveness of the teachers.
The first issue with standardized student performance is the limited sample that can be tested in a single assessment. According to Dr. Daniel Koretz (2008), there are misconceptions regarding standardized testing in the United States, including: “that test scores on a single test tell us all we need to know about student achievement, and that this information tells us all we need to know about school quality” (p. 6). A single test cannot fully evaluate or explain the progress of a student in a given subject. In fact, it will provide a limited view of the knowledge a student possesses. One assessment can only provide a snapshot of some of the content that a student knows; not the full range of information learned or progress made in a period of time.
Further, under pressure to increase test scores, teachers are driven to focus on the relatively small volume of information that is tested rather than the broader context of knowledge in a subject. Schools lacking in standardized test performance face pressure from state and federal governments to increase test scores. Given the time limitations of the classroom, some teachers find the only way to show the gains needed is to spend a majority of time on “test prep” rather than higher level thinking and true student engagement. Consequently, the students in the lowest performing districts and those most in need of excellent teaching are getting only test-prep style teaching in the classroom.
Moreover, not all subjects are currently tested through standardized assessments; therefore, all teachers cannot be evaluated using equal methods. While math and language arts have been the focus of standardized testing, other subjects like art and music are not formally evaluated. The trends in policy to rely on standardized testing to determine teacher and school effectiveness have prompted states to find assessments for all subjects. However, these formal testing systems are not currently in place.
Professionals like E.F. Lindquist and Dr. Daniel Koretz, who pioneered the development and study of standardized student performance assessments, agree that such tests help to identify strengths of students but should not be used to deduce quality or lack of quality in a teacher or school program. As stated, there are issues with the current student performance assessments including small sample size, pressure to focus on test preparation and the lack of tests in all subjects. Therefore, the current standardized student performance measures should not be used in teacher evaluations.
References
Koretz, D. M. (2008). Measuring up: What educational testing really tells us. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.