Accountability: Testing and Assessment
Parents are entitled to accurate reporting designed to help them understand how the curriculum is working on behalf of their children. Teachers and programs need to provide information to families to help them understand the accountability measures in use and how that information is specifically relevant to the curriculum and its goals/objectives.
This responsibility is complicated by many factors. In the public schools, standardized tests are used that report results in terms of the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). Report cards are issued for schools and states, beginning with third-grade data intended to provide information about which schools and districts are making adequate yearly progress (AYP), with accompanying options for parents who wish to transfer their children from schools designated as low-performing to schools that report higher achievement.
Although test reporting in the public schools doesn’t officially begin until third grade, many public and private schools feel pressure to use standardized tests with younger children for a variety of reasons that may or may not be related to determining progress, including:
- Determining entry-level readiness for a class of 4-year-olds, kindergarten, or first grade
- Screening children who must meet minimal score requirements for eligibility to charter, magnet, or private schools
- Identification of special needs, including giftedness
- “Coaching” to help children perform better on standardized tests to be administered later
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These kinds of activities are described as high-stakes testingwhen the outcome of an individual child’s performance on a single measure can have significant effects on decisions that will affect the child’s future access to educational opportunities. Oftenespecially in communities with high numbers of immigrant or low-socioeconomic, undereducated families and families navigating the elementary school choice system for the first timeparents aren’t aware of the potential implications of high-stakes testing.
The terminology of curriculum standards can also be confusing to parents and families. While educators use professional jargon and terms such as AYP (adequate yearly progress), alignment, benchmarks, differentiating instruction, and high-stakes testing, it is best to communicate with families about standards-based curriculum in plain language; this helps to establish meaningful dialogue (Grant & Ray, 2010).