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Standardized Testing: A Case Study Summary

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The conclusion made from this study is that test-publishers and evaluators are not taking into account the many factors that can hinder the results of the tests. This particular case study, “Student Reactions to Being Wrongly Informed of Failing a High-Stakes Test,” was attention-grabbing. The type of methodology for the case study is the mixed method approach. The purpose of this study was to “assess the psychosocial impact the students being told they failed the Minnesota Basic Standards Test in mathematics” (). Although there has been a drastic increase nationally over the importance of standardized tests, there has been little research on the impacts that may occur on the students. However, the students in this study did not actually fail …show more content…

Kate Menken’s (2010) purpose for her case study was to examine “the implementation of recent policy regarding assessment and high school graduation for ELLs” (p.521). The methodology that was used in this case study was the qualitative approach. There were “128 participants” from around New York City of which consisted of students, ESL and bilingual teachers, counselors, and administrators from different schools (Menken 2010). The participants were interviewed with having one school as the main focus over the academic year and the other were visited more than once and included 2nd and 3rd tier schools. There were two questions of which were used for this research: “In what ways have reforms emphasizing high-stakes tests influenced the instructional practices and the learning experiences of ELLs in high school? What are the language policy implications of the focus on assessment?” (Menken, 2010, p.524). After analyzing the interviews, it was found that “teaching to the test” was brought up “94 times” (). Although some test can be taken in the students’ native language there is fear that teachers are only focusing on increasing the amount of time on that language than on English. There is also a fear that the students will not comprehend the English language as well as the native English speakers because teachers are just teaching to the test. For the schools interviewed the majority said that they had to increase the amount of English instruction that the students received a day to help with the language proficiency that is on the tests. One size does not fit all, especially when it comes down to ELLs. It is hard from ELLs to be completely knowledgeable in one language when both are equally important for them. However, with the standardized tests that have a great amount of accountability towards both the school and the student, it is

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