Bibliography–lmj20

1.Neill, D. Monty, and Noe J. Medina. “Standardized Testing: Harmful to Educational Health.” The Phi Delta Kappan, vol. 70, no. 9, 1989, pp. 688–697.

Background: This article, instead of merely stating that standardized testing is harmful, breaks down each specific reason that standardized testing is not as standard as believed. The beginning of the article cites specific research studies that show flaws in the standardized testing system such as test validity and testing bias. The end of the article researches how standardized testing impacts schools and students.

How I used it: This article points out the specific flaws that make testing a bad indicator of student achievement. This source does not delve deeply into each flaw, but allowed me to gain enough information about the origins of research done on testing validity and bias. This article also provides great research about the harm that high-stake testing does to schools.

2.Wodtke, Kenneth H. et al. “How Standardized Is School Testing? An Exploratory Observational Study of Standardized Group Testing in Kindergarten.” Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, vol. 11, no. 3, 1989, pp. 223–235.

Background: The entire article is dedicated to one study where 10 kindergartens were observed while administering the “same” standardized test. The conditions and behaviors in each individual classroom allowed the researchers to conclude that the tests, although meant to be standardized, were actually incomparable.

How I used it: This article provided a credible study that displays that standardized testing is not always standard. I  used  this as evidence to support the concept that standardized tests cannot be used to indicate success when they can be so easily influenced and thus incomparable.

3.Green, Robert L., and Robert J. Griffore. “The Impact of Standardized Testing on Minority Students.” The Journal of Negro Education, vol. 49, no. 3, 1980, pp. 238–252.

Background: The article researches three types of bias in standardized testing: bias due to content factors, bias due to norms, and bias in testing conditions. The purpose of the article is to highlight the unfairness of standardized testing on minority students and how it will affect them throughout their life. The bulk of the article is spent citing specific research and adding more detail to support the claims made in the beginning.

How I used it: It is important to understand the history of standardized testing in order to analyze the current standing and possible future of testing. Although the article is old, it provided insight into what the problems were with standardized testing back then. From there, I was able to do research to find out whether the problems that existed in this article still exist today. Some of the issues brought up in the article are still a problem today and show that standardized tests often put minority students at a disadvantage.

4.Popham, James W. Using Standards and Assessments. 6th ed. Vol. 56. Alexandria: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 1999. 8-15. Print.

Background: The article is devoted to backing up the central claim that using standardized tests to measure school quality is like measuring temperature with a tablespoon.  The article uses real questions from past standardized tests to emphasize the flaws and biases within the system.

How I Used it:  This article shows the rise in the importance in standardized testing and analyzes how that has affected schools. I used this article to show that schools have been harmed by the high-stakes nature of tests. Also, this article helped me prove, using actual standardized test questions, that questions often require “common knowledge” that puts low income students at a disadvantage.

5.Harris, Phillip, Joan Harris, and Bruce M. Smith. “Standardized Tests Do Not Effectively Measure Student Achievement.” Standardized Testing. Ed. Dedria Bryfonski. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2012.Web. 30 Nov. 2016.

Background: This article examines the idea of “student achievement.” Many would define student achievement as a student’s success on state tests, however the author urges that tests fail to reward students for many important characteristics. The article also argues that standardized testing promotes shallow thinking students. Students are urged to seek out the quickest and most obvious answer when taking these tests and therefore deep thinking and problem solving is not measured either.

How I used it: This article allowed me to not only focus on flaws within the current tests and testing conditions, but also on what the tests lack. Creativity, critical thinking, resourcefulness, motivation, and resilience are all important characteristics that the tests lack. This article proved that the word achievement is very complex, especially when it comes to schools and students. Standardized tests, on the other hand, are not very complex. It is hard to measure something complex using something standard.

6. Gandy, Latasha. “Don’t Believe the Hype: Standardized Tests Are Good for Children, Families and Schools.” Education Post. Education Post, 11 Jan. 2016. Web. 12 Nov. 2016.

Background: In this article, Minnesota Education Program Director Latasha Gandy, argues that standardized tests are presently good for children and communities. She states that the most important reason that they benefit communities and students is that they are the strongest tool in the fight for educational justice.

How I Used it: This is the strongest argument against my thesis that I refute. Standardized test achievement gaps have only decreased by a small margin in the past 30 years so standardized tests have not been a strong tool in fighting injustice.

7.“NAEP – Achievement Gaps.” NAEP – Achievement Gaps. National Center for Educational Statistics, 22 Sept. 2015. Web. 12 Nov. 2016.

Background: This is an official report by the National Center for Educational Statistics. The report records the achievement gap for Hispanics and African Americans going back decades ago to the present.

How I used it: This report is used in my refutation of source #6. Achievement gaps in the last thirty years have only decreased by slim margins, usually around 4 points. In some cases, the achievement gap has actually widened in the past thirty years.

8.“NCLB: Narrowing the Curriculum?” NCLB Policy Brief. Center on Education Policy, 1 July 2005. Web. 23 Nov. 2016.

Background: This source presents the Center of Education Policy’s nationally representative survey questioning whether schools have narrowed their curriculum due to standardized testing. This article is a presentation of their findings.

How I Used it: I used this trustworthy survey to prove that schools are narrowing their curriculum due to standardized testing. Schools are putting more emphasis on reading and math since these are heavily tested subjects instead of art, history, and science. This proves that standardized testing may be creating a less diverse and well-rounded education for students.

9.Hamilton, L. S., Stecher, B. M., Marsh, J. A., McCombs, J. S., Robyn, A., Russell, J. L., et al. (2007). Standards-based accountability under No Child Left Behind: Experiences of teachers and administrators in three states. Santa Monica, CA: RAND.

Background: This source is an extensive study done by the Rand Corporation. Researchers analyzed teachers and administrators in three states: California, Georgia, and Pennsylvania. They analyzed how standard-based accountability has affected teachers and their teaching styles.

How I used it: This article showed that a majority of teachers have begun “teaching to the test” since the stakes of standardized testing have gone up. Once I prove that standardized testing increases the prevalence of teaching to the test, I can show that teaching to the test harms students.

10.Mitchell, Ruth. “High-Stakes Testing and Effects on Instruction.” Center for Public Education. Center for Public Education, 6 Mar. 2006. Web. 23 Nov. 2016.

Background: This is an article posted by Ruth Mitchell, a Center for Public Education researcher. The article pulls together the findings of several studies in order to create conclusions based on the research.

How I used it: This source provided a lot of clarification on definitions of ambiguous phrases. For example, this article provided a practical definition of “teaching to the test” which I used throughout my paper. This article also provides the findings of surveys that question teacher, student, and public attitudes towards standardized testing.

11. Macguire, Angus, and IISC. “Illustrating Equality VS Equity.” Interaction Institute for Social Change. IISC, 01 June 2016. Web. 21 Nov. 2016.

Background: The International Institute for Social Change collaborated with artist Angus Macguire to create an image that displays the difference between equity and equality.

How I Used it: I used Macguire’s image to create a metaphor between testing and watching a baseball game as depicted in the picture. It is possible for standardized tests to achieve test equality but not test equity.

12.Aycock,  James. “Teacher Voice: In Defense of Standardized Testing.” SCORE. N.p., 20 May 2014. Web. 30 Oct. 2016.

Background: In this article, James Aycock speaks in defense of standardized tests. He argues that most standardized tests are good and they should continue as they are being implemented today.

How I Used it: This is another argument that I refuted. Ayock displays that tests are equal in that every student is given the same test. However, he fails to make mention of test equity. I used this source along with source #11 to show that test equity is more important than test equality since equality could put some at a disadvantage while equity creates an equal playing field for all.