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Testing

standardized testing in America

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Before the introduction of standardized testing in America, children from poverty-stricken families were denied equal access to quality education (Yell, 2014). As a result, there was a need to finance the education of children from disadvantaged families to help them improve their living standards (Yell, 2014). Fortunately, President Lyndon Johnson conceived the idea to form the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) as a strategy for alleviating poverty (Yell, 2014). Therefore, he was proposing to have living standards of life for children coming from impoverished socioeconomic backgrounds be enhanced through equal access to quality education (Yell, 2014). To achieve this, the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act was passed to support the ESEA by prescribing how the federal government state was expected to provide financial aid to the state and push for school accountability (Nicks et al., 2018). Moreover, NCLB mandated all states to create standards and focus on yearly assessments, academic performance, school accountability, and qualification of educators (Nicks et al., 2018). In conclusion, the requirements for states to use standardized testing were integrated by both NCLB and ESEA legislation to identify poor performing schools as well as providing guidelines for interventions in those schools.

Texas State public school HB5 end-of-course teachers administer the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR) standardized tests to measure learner progress in reading, writing, mathematics, and science (Texas Education Agency [TEA], 2019a). They also focus on graduation requirements and the content of the standardized tests. On the other hand, the non-HB5 end-of-course teachers do not teach a course that requires the students to take a state exam determining their graduation from high school. The HB5 end-of-course teachers retain their job only if they produce a high passing rate in standardized state examinations and meeting accountability. However, their counterparts, the non-HB5 end-of-course teachers, have their teaching positions neither affiliated to the standardized state examinations nor meeting the state mandates. HB5 end-of-course teachers in the State of Texas are responsible and accountable for preparing students for state end-of-course standardized tests (Texas Education Grantmakers Advocacy Consortium, [TEAGAC], 2016; TEA, 2019c). Therefore, the creation of HB5 reflected the concerns of school leaders about high stakes testing and end-of-course exams.

Texas lawmakers signed a law in 1993 requiring the Texas public schools to follow an accountability system, (TEA, 2019b). In 2012, the STAAR program was implemented to conduct yearly assessments in reading and mathematics for grades 3-8, writing for grades 4-7students, science for grades 5-8, social studies for grade 8 students, and end-of-course assessments  (i.e., English I, English II, Algebra I, biology and U.S history) (TEA, 2019c). For that reason, Texas educators working under Texas House Bill 5 (HB5) are expected to emphasize preparing students to pass the STAAR end-of-course examinations (TEA, 2019a). On the contrary, Ryan et al. (2017) claimed that non-testing HB5 teachers do not worry or feel pressure to produce a high passing rate in standardized state examinations nor meeting accountability from the school administration, district, nor the state. Therefore, it becomes essential to investigate how the HB5 end-of-course teachers will describe their experiences with the STAAR end-of-course examination.

The creation of HB5 came about because of school leaders, such as administrators and school principals, who were concerned with high stakes testing and end-of-course examinations (TEAGAC, 2016). Gonzalez et al. (2016) acknowledged that teachers have felt pressured in preparing students for end-of-course exams. Von der Embse, Schoemann, Kilgus, Wicoff, and Bowler (2017) confirmed that there was a relationship between test accountability, teacher health, and counterproductive teaching practices. Willson and Falcon (2018) conducted a study investigating how quality teaching was balanced with pressure to prepare students for standardized testing in a South Texas public school. It was found that teachers sacrificed quality instruction to prepare for standardized tests and lacked time to teach writing test due to pressure from school administration and state officials to “pass the reading test;” teachers substituted all the classroom picture books with practice test passages; more often lessons were interrupted to review practice test passages; and duration of teaching was reduced to incorporate test-taking practice drills when lessons were about to end (Willson & Falcon, 2018).

Deming, Cohodes, Jennings, and Jencks (2016) examined test-based accountability among public schools in South Texas revealed that some teachers had intentionally denied academically weak students a chance to sit for the state standardized test as a strategy for improving the school rating. The authors further described that teachers who noticed that academically week students could lower the school performance, the teachers then categorized them as special needs students, thus, justifying the reason for preventing them from sitting for the high-stakes tests. Moreover, the pressure to prepare children for STAAR testing barred HB5 end-of-course teachers from meeting the goals of bilingualism set for the two-way dual language bilingual education (DLBE) program, objectives of biliteracy, better academic performance, and multicultural skills (Palmer et al., 2015). These studies reveal some of the experiences teachers undergo while trying to show accountability for the standardized tests.

The gap addressed in the proposed study is how Texas public school, HB-5 end-of-course teachers will describe their individual experience preparing their students for the series of  State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) standardized tests (Gawthrop, 2014; Gonzalez et al., 2016; Walker, 2014: & Von der Embse et al., 2017). A descriptive design will guide the proposed research. Two research questions will guide the proposed study:

  1. How do public school Texas HB5 end-of-course teachers describe their individual experience with preparing their students for the STAAR end-of-course examinations?
  2. How do public school Texas HB5 end-of-course teachers describe standardized testing in the state of Texas?

The following sections to be discussed in CHAPTER 1 include background of the study, the purpose of the study, research questions, advancing scientific knowledge and significance of the study, rationale for the methodology, nature of the research design for the study, definition of terms, and the assumptions, limitations, and delimitations. Chapter 1 will end with a summary and organization of the remaining chapters and a timeline for the completion of the proposed study.

 

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