Testing More, Teaching Less - American Federation of Teachers

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Instructional Time Lostto Test PreparationTime spent on test preparation reduces instructionaltime by the same amount, giving rise to great concernamong educators and parents. Test-preparationtime has grown substantially with the expansion ofstate-mandated testing, the proliferation of interim/benchmarking assessments and the expansion ofhigh-stakes consequences attached to test scores.Rubric for Measuring Classroom Time spent onTest Preparation. Our study estimates the amount oftime teachers spend with students on test preparationusing the rubric in Table 4, compiled mainly from twostudies of state-mandated testing described in theAppendix—one by the Center for the Study of Testing,Evaluation, and Educational Policy (Pedulla et al.,2003) and one by the Consortium on Chicago SchoolResearch (Tepper Jacob and Stone, 2005).The research on which the rubric is based narrowlydefined test prep as giving practice tests and teachingtest-taking strategies but does not count activitiesaligning content to the test such as review, reteachingor tutoring. The research shows that teachers preparedtheir students for testing even in the absence of highstakesaccountability, but that high-stakes considerablyincreased test-prep time. Further, our study assumesthat teachers prepare students for the interim/benchmarking assessments as if they were low-stakestests rather than treating them as part of the practicetesting for the high-stakes assessments. The testpreprubric is based on studies that predate interim/benchmark testing. As with the other low-stakes tests,and unlike test prep, the interim/benchmarking testsare part of district data systems and used to allocateinstructional time and resources to improve statemandatedtesting outcomes.The rubric assumes at least two hours of classroomtest prep for any kind of test except for individuallyadministered one teacher-one student diagnostictests, such as DIBELS. In low-stakes situations in bothtest-prep studies reviewed, teachers reported spendingabout 10 hours annually on test prep for a testgiven once a year covering two or more subjects. Therubric assumes five hours for a one-subject test givenonce a year.High-stakes for students or schools increasedtest prep to 30 hours per year for elementary teachersin high-stakes grades and to 20 hours per yearfor high school teachers in high-stakes classrooms.The Center for the Study of Testing, Evaluation, andEducational Policy (Pedulla et al., 2003) reportedhigh school teachers spending less time on testprep. The rubrics in Table 4 apply to average schoolsbut the Consortium on Chicago School Research(Tepper Jacob and Stone, 2005) found that teachersin low-performing schools with high percentages ofminority students reported more than 35 hours oftest prep.The rubric applies to each test administration regardlessof the length of the test, but test-prep timeestimates vary with the number of subjects tested.When a test was given multiple times a year, ourstudy assumes that the first administration of thetest involved minimal preparation (two hours) becausethere are no consequences attached to poorTable 4Rubric for Estimating ClassroomTest-Preparation TimeDiagnostic tests (individuallyadministered)Diagnostic tests (group administered) 2Pretests (first test, if test givenmultiple times a year)Low-stakes test, low-stakes grades(one subject)Low-stakes test, low-stakes grades(two subjects)Low-stakes test, high-stakes grades(elementary)Low-stakes test, high-stakes grades(high school)High-stakes tests, high-stakes grades(elementary)High-stakes tests, high-stakes grades(high school)Hours Per TestAdministration0251015103020Testing More, Teaching Less 21
aseline student performance (and perhaps evenmotivation for poor student performance in orderto inflate test score gains in subsequent test administrations).Interim/benchmark tests were treatedas low-stakes tests but were almost always given inhigh-stakes grades, which resulted in the assumptionof 15 hours of test prep for each administrationafter the first for elementary teachers.Estimates of Time Spent on Test Preparation.Students in grades 3-8 in Midwestern District spentat least 60 hours per year preparing for state-mandated,interim/benchmarking and district assessments(Figure 3A). The time committed to testingin Eastern District was substantially higher than inMidwestern District, with students in grades 6 -10spending approximately 110 hours or more per yearon test prep across all assessments (Figure 3B).Midwestern School District: Fifth- and eighthgradestudents spent the most time on testprep (more than 90 hours per pupil, or 18full days, in eighth grade) while students ingrades K-2 had 10-12 hours of test prep peryear. Except for seniors, high school studentsspent around 45 to 55 hours in test prep peryear. Estimates for test prep for the statemandatedtests never exceeded 35 hours peryear. However, the test prep for the interim/benchmarking tests amounted to more thanthe test prep for the state-mandated tests ingrades 3-8. Appendix Table C provides moredetailed information about the hours spent ontest prep by test and grade.Eastern School District: In grades 3-5, the localCBAs have been developed into an interim/benchmarking system (administered five timesannually in reading and four times annually inmath). Test prep escalates after grade 5 becausethe district uses both the state-prepared benchmarkingtests and district-developed CBAs. Ingrades 6-12, the CBAs are listed as local tests.Test prep for interim/benchmarking tests consumedabout the same number of hours as testprep for state-mandated tests in grades 3-7 andslightly less time in grades 8-11. See AppendixTable D for estimates of test prep time by testand grade.Our test-prep time estimates for grades 3-8in Midwestern School District amounted to approximatelytwo hours per week. In grades 6-11 inEastern School District, test prep time totaled ap-22 American Federation of Teachers
Page 1 and 2: Testing More,Teaching LessWhat Amer
Page 3 and 4: Randi WeingartenpresidentLorretta J
Page 5 and 6: ation. Instead, public policy and p
Page 8 and 9: Executive SummaryOBJECTIVESStudents
Page 10 and 11: associated interim/benchmarking tes
Page 12 and 13: The Testing LandscapeState-mandated
Page 14 and 15: Table 1BAssessment Inventory, Midwe
Page 16 and 17: Midwestern Public SchoolsTesting Ca
Page 18 and 19: added teacher assessment, class siz
Page 20 and 21: approximately four hours to student
Page 22 and 23: $20,000 per pupil in the highest-sp
Page 26 and 27: proximately three hours per week. T
Page 28 and 29: Time Initiative estimated that incr
Page 30 and 31: ReferencesBruno, Robert, Steven Ash
Page 32 and 33: APPENDIXResearch on Time Used for T
Page 34 and 35: Appendix Table ADirect Cost of Asse
Page 36 and 37: Appendix Table CEstimated Hours of

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