Describe the American Psychological Association’s (APA) position on the use of high-stakes testing in education. To avoid unintended consequences and to help improve student and school system performance, what three things does the APA advocate school officials must do to ensure tests provide meaningful assessments of student learning?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

• Although not specific to standardized testing associated with the Common Core standards, the APA’s position is clear:
o Tests are an objective means for measuring performance when used properly because test results can help teachers understand how well students are learning critical knowledge, skills, and abilities.
o Tests can also help teachers themselves understand the effectiveness of their teaching methods and materials.
• The APA believes that measuring student learning is important for strengthening and improving our nation’s schools.
• Tests, along with student grades and teacher evaluations, can provide critical measures of students’ skills, knowledge, and abilities; therefore, tests should be part of a system in which broad and equitable access to educational opportunity and advancement is provided to all students. Tests, when used properly, are among the most sound and objective ways to measure student performance.
• However, the APA is also clear that when test results are used inappropriately, or as a single measure of performance, they can have unintended adverse consequences.
• According to the APA, meaningful assessment can come only from sound tests that are both scored and used appropriately.

• To avoid unintended consequences and to help improve student and school system performance, the APA advocates that for tests to provide meaningful assessments of student learning—they must be developed and used properly.
• Officials must ensure three things.
o First, students must have a fair opportunity to learn the curriculum that they will be tested on.
o Second, no subgroup of students (e.g., students with disabilities, English language learners, minority students) should be disadvantaged by the test or test-taking conditions.
o Third, no important decisions should be made based on one test score. Further, school officials must ensure that the tests used have evidence of validity—or provide useful information—for the intended purpose.