Archived: The Educational System in the United States: Case Study Findings

Views on standardized exams. 
The use of standardized tests was among the most
passionately discussed topics of the Case Study research among parents, teachers,
and administrators. Opinions varied widely, according to each person’s view of
education, their role within the education establishment, and experience with
standardized tests. In spite of the differences over content and form and the uses
and abuses of test results, most agreed that they are important as a means of eval-

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uating the extent to which certain standards have been met and of establishing
a degree of comparability between schools throughout the state.
We found that principals, teachers, and parents were all well aware of the mul-
tiple uses of results of standardized tests. While some of the standardized tests
were believed to be useful for instructional guidance and student placement in
courses of varying degrees of difficulty, the end-of-year exams mandated by the
state were generally believed to provide a less-than-accurate assessment of their
schools and their teachers. This view was shared by teachers and administrators
at all the schools we visited, regardless of the school’s history of achievement.
Teachers at most schools viewed the state-mandated tests as a ‘‘necessary evil,’’
something to be tolerated. However, teachers from schools with many low-achiev-
ing students expressed a deep sense of resentment and unfairness at the public
comparison of schools based on these test results. These feelings came across in
many different interviews. A principal at South Central said the tests are ‘‘unfair
to me and my staff.’’ A teacher at Parks Elementary school stated, ‘‘comparisons
between the worst and the best schools are ridiculous.’’ Teachers at these schools
often pointed out that their students faced many social problems that interfered
with learning and that it was impossible to judge the effectiveness of the teachers
or the school by comparing them with schools whose students did not face the
same obstacles.
Despite the general dislike of state-mandated testing programs, most of the teach-
ers and principals in Metro City said that they felt some pressure to maintain or
improve the students’ performance each year. Test results for each school were
published in the local newspaper, and parents and community members were said
to hold the schools accountable when the results did not meet expectations.
Teachers and principals at Rockefeller Elementary and Vanderbilt Middle Schools
in particular indicated that parents compared their school’s test results to other
neighborhood schools and complained if their score results were slightly lower.
The chairman of the math department at Hamilton said that each year he must
go before the school board, answer questions, and defend what the department
is doing. ‘‘The roughest part is answering the question: how come you didn’t im-
prove as much this year as last year?’’
Test preparation was not an issue in East City schools, since the state end-of-year
test was more closely linked by the state to the curriculum being taught in the
schools. According to the principal at East Middle School, ‘‘the state is moving
away from norm-referenced testing toward criterion-referenced testing based on
the state curriculum which is expected to be taught.’’

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Although there were differences between the schools, teachers and principals at
most of the schools in Metro City said that students were given some in-class
preparation for the state test. In several schools, old copies of test questions were
used to prepare students for the type of questions they were likely to encounter.
Although it was difficult to get a firm idea of the amount of time teachers spent
doing this, it was clear that at some schools the test preparation was intensive
for several weeks before the test was administered. School administrators at Van-
derbilt Middle School downplayed the school’s activities in preparing students for
the test, but we found that both the assistant principal and several teachers had
materials for providing such preparation. In addition, one of the students we inter-
viewed said that she and her classmates had received test preparation ‘‘from day
one.’’ Another student at this school reported that his teacher had been preparing
the class for the state test for 3 months before the exam. Reports from other
schools indicated that teachers may spend 1 to 2 days a week going over practice
questions in the weeks proceeding the exam. Thus significant amounts of time
appeared to be spent in preparing students for these tests.
Although many teachers commented on the lack of fit between the state assess-
ments and the curriculum, the principal at Vanderbilt Middle School pointed out
that since the State Goals Assessment Program was not specifically designed to
measure coursework, a ‘‘smart’’ local district would try to figure out what it was
testing and try to incorporate the material into the local curriculum.