In the educational arena today, educators are faced with the reality that their professional reputation and effectiveness as an educator will be measured by the gains that their students make on a standardized test. This is the direction that the pendulum has swung. The intent of these standardized tests is being misused to the detriment of students. Authentic teaching is being sacrificed to meet a political goal with a substandard measurement that attempts to lump all students into one category.
I am all for a movement that promotes teacher accountability, but this is not the way to do it. The standardized test should be a measure to identify areas that need improvement. This could mean curricular, possibly faculty, staff development, or areas that need more resources of training. Placing all the blame on a teacher using one test is a gross misuse of standardized test- a quick and dangerous pseudo solution to a serious problem.
Teachers are told that students must pass a test so that policy makers and administrators can pass the buck.
