Part 3: High Stakes Testing and Opting Out: The Variables
The Variables
High stakes testing has ramifications including ending careers and affecting communities by closing schools. Hence, we need to look carefully at the variables that might affect a student’s performance on a test.
Teachers and principals do not work in a vacuum. They have students with lives outside school. Students live in a real world. The real world affects how they behave and their ability to focus in class. These factors include:
- English being a second language
- The physical and emotional health of the student
- If the student has had enough to eat or adequate time to sleep
- If there are distracting circumstances at home
- If the student has a home
- If the student is supported by tutors or parents who can help with homework
- The availability and quality of the instructional materials used in the classroom
- The size of the class
- School attendance
- Having additional sources of enrichment outside the classroom
State leaders deciding whether to comply with Federal regulations requiring high stakes testing must