DATE: March 6, 2007

TO: Dr. James Grant, Director of the Society of Future Educators

FROM: Alex Gandy, Member of the Society of Future Educators

SUBJECT: Proposal: Increase in Standardized Testing in U.S. Schools

CC: Dr. Elizabeth Tebeaux, Professor of English

Summary of Proposed Topic

This project proposes to take an in-depth look into the increased use of standardized testing within elementary and secondary schools in the United States over the past two decades. Testing has become one of the most controversial state and federal policies following the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act and as such is an issue future educators cannot ignore. Due to this increase, the problem of teaching to the test has arisen leading to mixed reactions regarding the utility and outcomes of standardized testing as a whole. The report on this topic will explain the recent history of the testing phenomenon and will explore the positive and negative outlooks that have come to be since its inception.

Rationale for Selected Topic

Few issues are as important for potential teachers to be aware of as educational assessment. Students in the U.S. today are tested more frequently than any others within the industrialized world, and the implications of this fact are far-reaching. Claims are consistently made that relying on test scores distorts learning and does not provide educators with any information on what students actually need to be learning in an ever-changing world. The concerns stemming from this topic include much more than just the recent criticism of the growing number of those teaching to the test. They include aspects affecting each and every area of the teaching profession including teacher freedom and creativity, the politicization of education, student inequality as a result of testing, and lack of accountability between schools, parents, and the federal government. In order to keep the educational system of the United States competitive with the rest of the world and to prepare our teachers for the work ahead of them, it is crucial that the issue of increased testing be researched and understood.

Plan for Research

The proposed plan for conducting research on this topic will consist of four parts. First, I intend to continue meeting with the reference librarians in Evans Library on the Texas A&M campus. The first visit with them proved instrumental in finding the most pertinent databases for my work, and further meetings will ensure that I have the most well-rounded information and that I stay on track during my report. Second, I will use several different online databases. ERIC is an education-specific search tool that provides both online documents and journal articles. Academic Search Premier is a broader database that covers a wide variety of subject areas. The visual search option on this database will be particularly helpful. LexisNexis will allow me to find the most up-to-date newspaper articles nationwide regarding standardized testing. A third part of my research will consist of material found in the books listed in the bibliography section below. Finally, I plan on conducting a number of interviews that will contribute towards the Opinions section within the discussion segment of my report. My aim is to discuss testing with each of the following:

  1. Elementary educators teaching the early grades which do not undergo testing
  2. Teachers of different grade levels (3, 5, 8, 9, and 12) whose students take the tests
  3. Teachers of high income and low income schools
  4. Administrators in secondary schools
  5. College professors of the subject areas covered in the tests (math, science, and English)

Proposed Report Outline

  1. Letter of Transmittal
  2. Title Page
  3. Abstract and Summary
  4. Purpose of the Report
  5. Research Approach Used
  6. Topics Covered
  7. Essential Background- Reason Report is Needed
  8. Discussion
  9. History of Testing in the United States
  10. The No Child Left Behind Act
  11. Teaching to the Test
  12. Issues Stemming from Increased Testing
  13. Teacher Freedom: Effects of the Pressure to Score High
  14. Testing and Inequity: Income and Race
  15. The Politicization of Education
  16. Accountability
  17. Nationwide and Global Competition
  18. Positive Perspectives
  19. Negative Outlooks
  20. Opinions of Those Who Matter Most: The Educators
  21. Possible Alternatives
  22. Conclusions
  23. References

Preliminary Bibliography

Baker, Joan M. Achievement Testing in U.S. Elementary and Secondary Schools. New

York: Peter Lang Publishing, 2006.

Firestone, William A., Lora F. Monfils, and Roberta Y. Schorr, Ed. The Ambiguity of

Teaching to the Test: Standards, Assessment, and Educational Reform. Mahwah:

Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2004.

Giordano, Gerard. How Testing Came to Dominate American Schools: The History of

Educational Assessment. New York: Peter Lang Publishing, 2005.

Graves, Donald H. Testing is not Teaching: What Should Count in Education.

Portsmouth: Heinemann, 2002.

Kohn, Alfie. The Case Against Standardized Testing. Portsmouth: Heinemann, 2000.

Lissitz, Robert W., and William D. Schafer. Assessment in Educational Reform, Both

Means and Ends. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2002.

Miner, Barbara, and Kathy Swope, Ed. Failing Our Kids: Why the Testing Craze Won’t

Fix Our Schools. Milwaukee: Rethinking Schools, 2000.

Phelps, Richard P., Ed. Defending Standardized Testing. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum

Associates, 2005.