Chpt. 14: Teachers being held accountable

By Tiffany

The point/counterpoint in this chapter tackled the subject we seem to be discussing frequently in our classes; the subject of standardized testing and high stakes testing. This is obviously an issue all teachers are going to have to face when they have their own classrooms, but should it really determine a teacher’s ability to teach? If we hold every school and every child to the same exact standard, than we are not acknowledging the fact that everyone is different. I see holding teachers accountable for tests scores as punishing those teachers who work with diverse, low SES students. If my career depended on how well students did on the same exact test, I may have an urge to go work in an upper class, white suburban school. Sadly, these are not the kids that necessarily need the extra help.

If you focus all of your attention on getting your students to increase their test score, you will neglect other material they need for a well rounded education. It just amazes me that our society doesn’t take these things into consideration when it is clear that research and studies show the negative sides of testing. We have all read how standardized testing is not representative of the whole population, but rather the students that were raised with the WASP cultural and social capital.

I really was intrigued by the author’s quote of, “The high-stakes accountability process seems to assume that public humiliation is enough to get schools to improve.” This is the only reason I can see why they implement these required tests and why it is the only information they make available. It is not representative of how well students do in class, but rather on one test. By publishing this information and making a point to say a teacher is not doing their job is like saying if everyone knows how your students are doing, than you will be able to push them harder to succeed. I do agree that it is alright for the community to know how the schools are doing, but I don’t think test results should be the only information available. As a future parent, I know I will want to know how my child’s school performs academically, so I can’t say I think it is all wrong. However, like we have read, portfolios, exhibits or presentations could show us a better representative sample of how the school is doing as a whole.