Part 4: High Stakes Testing and Opting Out : The Consequences
The Consequences
As long as policy and funding are determined by test results, we will be dealing with the consequences.
There is the narrowing of focus to math and reading and less focus on history, social studies, the arts, foreign languages, writing, physical education, or developing research and critical thinking skills.
The emphasis on test scores precludes looking more carefully at the cause of low test scores which include poverty, health and family issues as well as the effect of the economic downturn on children and their families.
Teachers who consider themselves professionals will begin to drop out of public schools. These individuals who have invested time and money on preparing for a career in a public school system will no longer have a sense of challenge as they go about reviewing standardized curriculum with every child being on the same page in the same book in all parts of the country at the same time with no opportunity to respond to students as individuals. There is also the matter of being evaluated publicly with a career hanging on whether your students test well but with no control over the students circumstances at the time that they take the test.
Many teachers will choose not to work in lower income schools with struggling students or teach subjects