The Effects of Testing on Teaching and Learning

Joan Herman

A study was conducted to determine the effects of testing on teaching and learning, focusing on standardized norm-referenced tests. A questionnaire was administered to 85 kindergarten through grade 12 teachers from a large urban school district who were attending a teacher leadership workshop. Fifty-five respondents were from elementary schools, and 30 were from secondary schools. The 131-item questionnaire obtained data on the following parameters: (1) teacher and student backgrounds and the school context; (2) test-taking strategies and test preparation; (3) testing's impact on instructional objectives, content taught, staff professionalism, and interference with sound instructional practices; and (4) teachers' attitudes toward testing. Results suggest that there is significant pressure on teachers to improve test scores and that significant teacher attention and instructional time is devoted to testing. Teachers did not report that an emphasis on testing is narrowing the curriculum, but there is some evidence that testing is interfering with the teachers' abilities to attend to the finer points of instruction. Teachers perceived themselves as giving some attention to everything, and they felt that they teach both basic skills and higher-order thinking skills. The study finds no clear relationship between reported test score trends and time and attention to testing. There is some indication of lower morale in schools with declining scores, but there is also a positive climate in schools with increasing scores. Seventeen tables prJsent survey findings. (SLD)