To develop a test, publishers construct questions based on the most common textbooks and curriculum for a particular grade, and that, according to many critics, is part of the problem. The tests look for what is common among schools, not which is unique. Subjects such as physical education, art, music, and foreign language, for instance, may help create a well-rounded student, but will be of little use on the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills. Schools looking to keep their slice of the financial pie, therefore, will have no incentive to keep offering these courses in the future.

What High Stakes Testing Reveals: Ranking or Education?

Stifling curriculum creativity is just the tip of the iceberg, according to Joanna Marasco, Ph.D., assistant professor of education at Westminster College, Fulton, Missouri. Marasco feels that testing merely ranks and segregates children, rather than revealing how well educated they are.

Still, proponents of high-stakes testing insist there is ample reason to be concerned with today's quality of education. According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), a federally funded test, roughly only a third of fourth, eighth, and twelfth graders—the ages at which the test is given—read proficiently. Math scores were even lower. They also stress the importance of testing in determining which students are struggling and give them the help they need rather than merely socially promoting them year after year.

Interpreting the Data

"There are many children who can't read by grade three, according to test standards," Marasco insists. "Reading is not word recalling. One child may read a book haltingly, yet he can retell the story in exact detail. Now does that mean he can't read?" On a standardized reading exam, where every minute counts, that same child would have a difficult time displaying his understanding of the material, she explains.

In Marasco's view, it's all how you interpret the data. In schools that perform poorly on tests such as NAEP, perhaps a disproportionate number of children come from non-English speaking homes. Parent's education level, family income, student and teacher motivation, and cultural differences all affect test scores, she says. To further frustrate teachers, the tests merely rank students rather than diagnose potential problems. Students never get a chance to see their mistakes, leaving teachers and parents in the lurch on how to help them improve. And what about the good student who simply doesn't test well?

Parents are having a tough time interpreting their children's test scores as well. The Stanford 9 exam, for example, calculates scores in three different ways—raw score (how many questions are actually answered correctly), a percentile ranking, and finally, a category range. Eighth graders who answer 55 out of 78 math questions correctly get the same "average" category range as classmates who answer only 29 questions correctly, leaving parents to wonder if they should be pleased or concerned.

Teaching or Teaching to the Test?

Yet the biggest problem may be an intangible one: high-stakes testing creates a tense atmosphere. Since so much rides on high scores—teachers' jobs and school funding, for instance—many teachers spend a good portion of the school year "teaching to the test," helping students develop test-taking skills, and diverting attention away from other academic pursuits. "It's fair to ask for some sort of standard by which we grade our students—how well they're doing at certain educational benchmarks," observes Hagen. "What has happened, however, is that teachers are now teaching students how to take the test rather than teaching the information they need to demonstrate an understanding of it on a test."

The students themselves feel the pressure, too, since many school districts use the tests to help determine who will advance to the next grade. "Test-prep" courses are springing up everywhere in an effort to satiate parents' appetites in preparing their children for the yearly (and sometimes twice yearly) exams. (Such classes may contribute to further skewing of test results as only those students whose parents can afford the classes may perform well.) In Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Texas, outraged parents fed up with what they see as the classroom turning into test-taking boot camp, have formed boycotts, and have even tried challenging the tests in court.