Educational Psychology—Limitations and Possibilities

Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment 827
correctly, but their overall performance rating is determined by arbitrary cutscores or passing
scores (i.e., a number on a score scale that determines whether a test has been passed). Because
of this arbitrary process of setting the passing scores, some states periodically change their tests
when scores tend to be high. Many have criticized the use of cutscores because government
officials can change the cutscores at any time for any reason. Also, these arbitrary performance
levels can have a great impact on students and schools. For instance if a cutscore is set at 80,
some testing experts have argued that there may be no significant difference in a child’s learning
from a 77 to a score of 80. Because the purpose of these tests is to compare all students in a state,
the tests must be able to reliably account for student differences involving variables such as place
(i.e., rural, urban, suburban, underfunded schools, well-funded schools), individual difference
(i.e., intelligence, disability, culture, language, socioeconomic status), and local instructional
differences. This need to generalize test results is problematized by the fact that some tests have
yet to be proven statistically reliable and valid in their assessment of students.
In an attempt to accommodate these reliability and validity issues, test content is manipulated
to enhance the score spread. Score spread allows students to be statistically ranked and sorted.
The more spread out the scores, the easier it is to sort the students. One technique in establishing
score spread is to eliminate questions that were to frequently answered correctly. In this case,
schools and students are punished for their ability to effectively teach to the test. Other problems
with the validity of these tests include test pollution and teaching/testing mismatches. In test
pollution, the validity of the test results is adversely affected by the teaching of test-taking
skills, the use of practice tests, and the use of other test preparation strategies that are designed
to enhance student achievement through the question-answering process rather than through
the correct understanding of the tested information. The issue of teaching/testing mismatches
involves the difference between what information is on the test and the information that is taught
in schools. If students are not taught what is on the test, then they do poorly, not because of
their own effort but because of this mismatch. The solution to this problem is twofold. First,
teachers can anticipate the test content and teach to the test. Second, test preparation materials
can be purchased or developed that closely aligns with test content. In any case, either practice
once again has significant consequences for curriculum and instruction, and more important the
students and schools.
Finally, the impact of this type of educational system on the roles of the educators and students
is significant in our comparison to a reconceptualized environment. In this technical rational
system, administrators function solely as managers whose primary responsibility is to ensure
appropriate student test scores. The administrator’s role as instructional leader is sharply defined
by the standardized test requirement. The role of teachers in the teaching and learning process is
greatly affected by the standards and accountability environment. One requirement of NCLB is
that all teachers must be highly qualified. This noble and commonsense requirement is subverted
by the federal requirement that the definition of highly qualified teachers is solely determined
by their performance on standardized tests. Most of these tests are related solely to disciplinary
content knowledge. Other indicators of teacher expertise such as administrative evaluations geared
to the local context, teacher experience, and student and parent feedback are subordinated to the
test performance requirement. Many alternative teacher certification programs designed to fill
teacher shortages are solely focused on content tests with a minimal emphasis on pedagogical
knowledge. In this type of environment, teachers function as deskilled technicians whose sole
responsibility is to make sure that the appropriate content is taught in the required amount of time.
Teachers are considered deskilled when they must operate within a narrow range of specialized
knowledge and skills. In this situation, teachers become content specialists rather than content
generalists who can make interdisciplinary connections. Generally, the power of teachers is
limited to decisions about how best to carry out the curricular and assessment mandates of the
states.