Could standardized testing be one of the major causes responsible for teacher burnouts? Teachers are under a great deal of pressure to raise student test scores. Some of the pressure is from the administration, because test scores reflect many things. Test scores can reflect how well each teacher taught their class which directly correlates with the teacher. Test scores can reflect how well the grade level performed, how well the school did, and in many cases how well a district does. Standardized testing can make schools more alluring to families if the school does well. When parents are looking for a school for their children they would rather enroll them in a school that has high test scores than schools that have low test scores. Many people may not understand how much pressure these tests put on the teachers.
Teachers spend on average eight to eleven hours at school on any given day and even bring home grading and other work to do in the evenings. Teachers have a full time job and at times it may be a stressful job. The most stressful part of the year for many teachers, including myself, is the month before AIMS testing (Arizona's Instrument to Measure Standards). Teachers are working very hard in order to teach their students information that has not yet been covered during the school year that the students will see on the standardized test. Often the material that needs to be taught is not taught to the full extent to which the teacher would like to teach it because they are under a time restraint to teach the information before the test. “Time is the most precious resource for the teacher. As teachers we always seem to need far more time than is available… but because time is always in short supply, teachers are constantly making compromises based on priorities” (Posner, 2004, p. 194). Teachers feel pressure to have their students do well on standardized tests. Some teachers may worry about having their contracts renewed for the next school year, about meeting their performance pay goal, or about how their students will do in relation to other classes in their school. “The first important consideration of testing is purpose. The process of test construction is so specialized that an instrument designed for one purpose cannot be used for another. Even if we use the best tests possible, it is a core truth of psychometrics that no test is completely reliable: Error is part of every score. For this reason, test developers, academic bodies and professional associations alike warn against attaching severe consequences to performance on any test” (Nunez, 2013, p.1). This shows how unreliable it is for teachers to be reprimanded for bad test scores. Students, parents, teachers, and administration will not fully understand what each test is covering if there is not a sole purpose for each individual test. Tests are not measuring the purpose of every question, it is measuring the test as a whole. Standardized tests are used to gauge whether students have learned and retained what is in the standards. It is not always completely accurate because it is a multiple choice test. There is no wiggle room, if a student does not understand what the question is asking they are unable to have the question explained to them during a standardized test. This could mean the student would get the question wrong even if they knew the material but did not understand the wording of the question.
Many people assume tests “measure” something, but they don’t really measure anything. They may indicate a student’s ability to take tests, but they don’t do a very good job of describing the learning or thinking. “Standardized tests are designed to enable us to compare the performance of students in a relatively efficient way. But how much can tests tell us about what students actually know” (Koretz, 2008, p.1)? Tests cannot tell teachers what each child knows because children know more than a test can actually show. Standardized tests are best used as tools to compare how much one student knows to another or how much one school knows to another. However, it could simply mean one student is better at test taking or guessing the answer than another student or one school is better at test taking or guessing the answer than another school.
Schools and school districts put a lot of pressure on the educators to make their schools look more appealing based upon high test scores. This causes teachers to stress and worry more about making sure they teach their students more of the material that will be covered on the standardized test. By doing that, (also called, “teaching-to-the-test),” it does not always give the students the time to grasp all of the material. There is, usually, at least a month left of school after the standardized tests take place which means the information that teachers need to teach during that month needs to be compiled together and taught before the test. Then, usually after the tests, teachers go back and teach that information more in depth after the test. Students often feel stressed from having to rush through preparing for their tests and many students do not feel they have thorough understanding of the material. There are many students who experience test-stress, which can be a difficult obstacle to doing well on tests even if the students have thorough understanding of the material on the test.
Students often feel the pressure of standardized tests, as well, a student in North Carolina opted out of taking her MSLs, but was told she needs to take this test unless she un-enrolls from the school district (The Bluehat Movement, Video, 2013). By having to teach more of what will be on the test, teachers feel constrained and unable to teach in ways that may engage students and make learning more meaningful and relevant to them. It can be especially frustrating when a teachable moment arises within the classroom and teachers are unable to fully cover a useful and meaningful topic to their class because they have to teach what is on the test. “Sadly, things are getting even worse. We are living through a very dark period, educationally speaking, as some of the best teachers and principals are getting tired – or fired – and the few oases of extraordinary teaching are drying up” (Kohn, 1999, p. 2). To me, this quote means there is not as much room in the classrooms today to teach about subjects or topics that are not on the standards or common core. What makes teachers extraordinary is their ability to see what their students need and what they have interests in. In turn, teachers use what they know about their students to teach lessons they will remember forever, even if it will not show up on their standardized test. The lesson could show up later on in their life. Teaching is not just about writing and arithmetic, it is about teaching right from wrong, and morals. Students would not go very far in life if they did not have good morals or understand the difference between right and wrong. These are not concepts that come up on standardized testing but they do come up in everyday life and it is important that teachers still have the time to teach what is important to a successful life. Standardized tests are limiting what we can teach and that does not benefit anyone.
School and school administrators often create even more stress and contribute to teacher burn-out. Administrators are feeling pressure from state and federal legislatures. Pressures such as these are passed on to teachers and then on to children. I do not feel that this problem is easily corrected because it is not ultimately up to us, as educators whether we administer standardized tests. One approach to try is for the administrations or districts to not put so much pressure on teachers. If students do not perform well that it should not directly give the administration just cause to fire the teacher. There could be many reasons as to why the student did not perform well on the test, some of which would not directly relate to the teacher, such as, sickness or test-anxiety. The scores that students earn on their testing should not be a primary cause for teachers not to make their performance pay or another goal that was set by the results of standardized testing. If teachers were not constantly stressed out about losing their jobs because of test scores they would be able to perform better as educators and not burnout as quickly. There could be solutions such as renewing contracts before standardized testing begins which could minimize the stress and worry teachers feel about job security. Standardized testing is not going to go away. It is important to find a solution for the stress and burnouts that affect the people directly related to these tests, such as teachers.
References:
Kohn, A. (1999, September 14). The Trouble With "Back-to-Basics" and "Tougher Standards". School Board News.
Koretz, Daniel. "Usable Knowledge." Measure for measures: What do standardized tests really tell us about students and schools?. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 June 2013. <www.uknow.gse.harvard.edu/decisions/DD315-608.html>.
Nunez, Isabel. "Standardized test scores are worst way to evaluate teachers - Chicago Sun-Times." News articles and headlines from the Chicago Sun-Times . N.p., n.d. Web. 30 June 2013. <http://www.suntimes.com/news/otherviews/15107882-452/standardized-test-scores-are-worst-way-to-evaluate-teachers.html>.
Posner, G. J. (2004). Chapter 8: Frame factors (pp. 191—215). In: Analyzing the curriculum (3rd ed.). Boston: McGraw Hill.
The Bluehat Movement - Schools - Teachers – Parents(2013). (n.d.). Retrieved from http://schoolsteachersparents.wikidot.com/videos:bluehat-gr6girl