WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW… Danielle Connor Morganne Taylor Ivy Tech

INTASC Standard/Rationale Standard #1: Learner Development The teacher understands how learners grow and develop, recognize that patterns of learning and development vary individually within and across the cognitive, linguistic, social, emotional, and physical areas, designs and implements developmentally appropriate and challenging learning experiences. Brief Description: For this assignment, we gathered information regarding standardized testing in public schools to show the important areas these tests do not cover. We have included facts, statistics, real teachers testimonies, as well as our personal opinions along with others. Rationale: To document our understanding of Standard #1, Learner Development, we included this PowerPoint presentation to show that all of the areas included are important for the growth and development of students.

WHAT YOU DO KNOW… Majority of the standardized tests measure only a few subjects, which are normally, Math, Science, Language/Reading, and Writing. In Indiana, students are required to take the ISTEP test from 3 rd grade through 8 th grade and again as a high school sophomore. Additionally, 4 th and 6 th graders will also test in science, and 5 th and 7 th will test in social studies. Along with the ISTEP for sophomores, they must take the GQE (Graduation Qualifying Exam).

The No Child Left Behind Act states that all American states public schools must be tested in certain subjects to measure their level of understanding and achievement. Private and homeschooled students are not required to take these tests. They use the test to measure yearly progress in required subjects, and if one does not meet requirements they will be placed in remediation classes or receive tutoring until they are able to place properly.

WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW... “The standardized tests we all know so well don’t come close to assessing all the outcomes that students and teachers attain”. WHATS LEFT OUT: Creativity Reliabilty Courage Critical thinking Enthusiasm Compassion Resilience Empathy Resourcefulness Motivation Self-Awareness Sense of Beauty Persistence Self-Discipline Sense of Wonder Curiosity Leadership Honesty Endurance Civic-mindedness Integrity

Pressure All Around Teachers as well as students are measured ineffectively as a result of standardized testing. Schools & teachers around the country are being caught cheating on standardized tests due to the pressures being put on them. (The cheating in Atlanta is the biggest cheating scandal to be uncovered recently) The cheating in Atlanta is believed to have started as early as 2001.

Jobs On The Line “If new laws or policies specifically require that teachers be fired if their students' test scores do not rise by a certain amount, then more teachers could be terminated than is now the case". This leads to unfair firing of teachers, without a detailed reason other than low test scores. “There is simply no shortcut to the identification and removal of ineffective teachers. It must surely be done, but such actions will unlikely be successful if they are based on over-reliance on student test scores whose flaws can so easily provide the basis for successful challenges to any personnel action. Districts seeking to remove ineffective teachers must invest the time and resources in a comprehensive approach to evaluation that incorporates concrete steps for the improvement of teacher performance based on professional standards of instructional practice, and unambiguous evidence for dismissal, if improvements do not occur.”

Proficiency Differs With 50 states across our country, that means there is 50 different definitions of what “proficient” is for a student. A student could qualify as proficient in Indiana and then move to Missouri and not still be proficient in a certain subject area. This makes assessing and comparing students near impossible. No Child Left Behind law mandates that 100 percent of students must be "proficient" under state standards by a goal that has been “universally described as impossible”.

Questions? Are standardized tests a fair way to measure the students knowledge and success? Should teachers be evaluated by the results of their students standardized tests?

References Harris, Phillip, Joan Harris, and Bruce M. Smith. "Standardized Tests Do Not Effectively Measure Student Achievement." Standardized Testing. Ed. Dedria Bryfonski. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, At Issue. Rpt. from "Chapter 3: The Tests Don't Measure Achievement Adequately." The Myths of Standardized Tests: Why They Don't Tell You What You Think They Do Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 11 Apr Huff Post Education. (2011). Standardized Tests’ Measures Of Student Performance Vary Widely: Study. Retrieved from standards-vary-widely_n_ html The Reckoning: Atlanta’s Schools. (2013). In The Economist. Retrieved from tate.libproxy.ivytech.edu/docview/ ?accountid= tate.libproxy.ivytech.edu/docview/ ?accountid=41074