High stakes: Teaching to the tests in K-12

We continue our conversation with Harry Feder of FairTest. This time, we discuss high stakes tests in K-12 schools. Harry explains how tests and the prep for them came to dominate education and the consequences for students, teachers, and schools of high or low scores. He also describes how the same companies dominate textbooks and testing, and suggests some alternatives to high-stakes tests. Overview 00:00-00:50 Intros 00:50-06:35 How testing became such a huge part of the K-12 experience 06:35-09:31 Amount of testing autonomy of districts and schools 09:31-14:23 Consequences and benefits of test scores 14:23-16:32 Impact on teaching as a profession 16:32-19:51 Test score use for middle and high school admissions 19:51-23:42 Relationship between commercial testing companies and textbook companies 23:42-26:36 PISA—Program for International Student Assessment 26:36-30:01 Fairtest’s proposals for alternatives to current testing system 29:45- Outro References Click here to listen to Part 1 of our conversation with Harry Feder  Fairtest website Transcript

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