Au, Wayne. Neither Fair Nor Accurate.
In this article, Wayne Au gives research-supported claims to why high-stakes testing should not be used to evaluate teachers. He correctly states that effective teaching cannot be equated with higher test scores. In his article he elaborates on six key flaws of using testing like VAM to evaluate teachers. When using a test to measure teacher effectiveness, there is a statistical error rate of 35 percent when using one year’s worth of data, which would cause many to be misevaluated. Naturally, the test scores of students depend ultimately upon the students themselves, so year after year as students go through a teacher’s classroom the test scores can fluctuate greatly. Also impacting the test scores is outside factors that are out of the teacher’s control, like if the student ate breakfast that morning or if the student is coming from an unstable home. If a teacher teaches classes for gifted students, they will appear more effective than a teacher who teaches special education, which makes it an unfair assessment. Lastly, the author points out that it is nearly impossible to determine which teacher caused the success of failure of a student on these high-stakes tests. Overall, Au provides evidence that it is unfair to evaluate teachers on factors that are outside of their control with a test that has inaccurate results. Berlak, Harold. Race and the Achievement Gap. In this article, Harold Berlak brings to light the truth about the achievement gap between people of different races. There are disproportionately more schools failing that have a high percentage of students of color. More of these students tend to fail school and drop out, while less are admitted to “gifted” classes and colleges. Berlak explains why this gap exists, first generally and then specifically on the gap in standardized test scores. Of course, early on the racial achievement was explained by the racist notion that whites were superior academically and culturally to people of color. It is now shown that the “inferiority” shown by the achievement gap is not due to genetics and the color of their skin, but instead to culture and history. Also, there is an underrepresentation of African-American students in high-ranking schools. Instead, there is a disproportionately large representation in schools that rank low in math and reading. Many students in these lower-ranking schools do not even have access to any “gifted and talented” programs, thus not giving them the same opportunities as higher-ranked, predominantly white schools. Berlak also describes the oft-cited study done on white and black students of Stanford in which it was discovered that if students know they are expected to do less well, then they will preform more poorly. He comes to a conclusion that “we still live in a society that is separate and unequal”. Christensen, Linda. High-Stakes Harm. In this article, Linda Christensen points out the harm of high-stakes testing in today’s schools. Testing determines a number of things, from …show more content…
She starts by stating that the U.S. ranks low compared to other countries in math and science based on the Programme in International Student Assessment, or PISA. This is partly due to programs such as NCLB, which has caused schools to teach students to simply regurgitate memorized facts instead of how to use higher order thinking to truly understand concepts. Other nations have reformed their education system by revising curriculums and assessments to nurture true growth and knowledge in their students. Darling-Hammond uses Finland as an example of a successful country since they got rid of their tracking and testing systems and placed highly trained teachers who would foster problem-solving skills, creativity, and independent learning in their students. Finland is now ranked at the top in international rankings. Some other countries she identifies are South Korea and Singapore, who have both shown significant growth over the years. The author shows that great strides were made in the United States in the past, with the most productive years being the mid-1970s. However, since then much has gone downhill. Some of Darling-Hammond’s suggestions for improving our education system include supporting more pilot programs, demonstrations, and innovations. She suggests that we start to provide children with what they need at home - whether it is food or security - so that they can succeed in
In this article, Wayne Au gives research-supported claims to why high-stakes testing should not be used to evaluate teachers. He correctly states that effective teaching cannot be equated with higher test scores. In his article he elaborates on six key flaws of using testing like VAM to evaluate teachers. When using a test to measure teacher effectiveness, there is a statistical error rate of 35 percent when using one year’s worth of data, which would cause many to be misevaluated. Naturally, the test scores of students depend ultimately upon the students themselves, so year after year as students go through a teacher’s classroom the test scores can fluctuate greatly. Also impacting the test scores is outside factors that are out of the teacher’s control, like if the student ate breakfast that morning or if the student is coming from an unstable home. If a teacher teaches classes for gifted students, they will appear more effective than a teacher who teaches special education, which makes it an unfair assessment. Lastly, the author points out that it is nearly impossible to determine which teacher caused the success of failure of a student on these high-stakes tests. Overall, Au provides evidence that it is unfair to evaluate teachers on factors that are outside of their control with a test that has inaccurate results. Berlak, Harold. Race and the Achievement Gap. In this article, Harold Berlak brings to light the truth about the achievement gap between people of different races. There are disproportionately more schools failing that have a high percentage of students of color. More of these students tend to fail school and drop out, while less are admitted to “gifted” classes and colleges. Berlak explains why this gap exists, first generally and then specifically on the gap in standardized test scores. Of course, early on the racial achievement was explained by the racist notion that whites were superior academically and culturally to people of color. It is now shown that the “inferiority” shown by the achievement gap is not due to genetics and the color of their skin, but instead to culture and history. Also, there is an underrepresentation of African-American students in high-ranking schools. Instead, there is a disproportionately large representation in schools that rank low in math and reading. Many students in these lower-ranking schools do not even have access to any “gifted and talented” programs, thus not giving them the same opportunities as higher-ranked, predominantly white schools. Berlak also describes the oft-cited study done on white and black students of Stanford in which it was discovered that if students know they are expected to do less well, then they will preform more poorly. He comes to a conclusion that “we still live in a society that is separate and unequal”. Christensen, Linda. High-Stakes Harm. In this article, Linda Christensen points out the harm of high-stakes testing in today’s schools. Testing determines a number of things, from …show more content…
She starts by stating that the U.S. ranks low compared to other countries in math and science based on the Programme in International Student Assessment, or PISA. This is partly due to programs such as NCLB, which has caused schools to teach students to simply regurgitate memorized facts instead of how to use higher order thinking to truly understand concepts. Other nations have reformed their education system by revising curriculums and assessments to nurture true growth and knowledge in their students. Darling-Hammond uses Finland as an example of a successful country since they got rid of their tracking and testing systems and placed highly trained teachers who would foster problem-solving skills, creativity, and independent learning in their students. Finland is now ranked at the top in international rankings. Some other countries she identifies are South Korea and Singapore, who have both shown significant growth over the years. The author shows that great strides were made in the United States in the past, with the most productive years being the mid-1970s. However, since then much has gone downhill. Some of Darling-Hammond’s suggestions for improving our education system include supporting more pilot programs, demonstrations, and innovations. She suggests that we start to provide children with what they need at home - whether it is food or security - so that they can succeed in