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Does Test Preparation Mean Low-Quality Instruction?

Critics of test-based accountability warn that test preparation has a negative influence on teachers' instruction due to a focus on procedural skills. Others advocate that the adoption of more rigorous assessments may be a way to incentivize more ambitious test preparation instruction. Drawing...

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Published in:	Educational researcher 2017-11, Vol.46 (8), p.420-433
Main Authors:	Blazar, David, Pollard, Cynthia
Format:	Article
Language:	English
Subjects:	Accountability Achievement tests Educational Policy Educational Quality Elementary education Elementary School Mathematics Grade 4 Grade 5 High Stakes Tests Hypothesis Testing Mathematics Mathematics Instruction Mathematics Tests Observation Prediction Regression (Statistics) Teacher Effectiveness Teacher Surveys Teachers Teaching Teaching Methods Test Preparation
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container_title	Educational researcher
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description	Critics of test-based accountability warn that test preparation has a negative influence on teachers' instruction due to a focus on procedural skills. Others advocate that the adoption of more rigorous assessments may be a way to incentivize more ambitious test preparation instruction. Drawing on classroom observations and teacher surveys, we do find that test preparation activities predict lower quality and less ambitious mathematics instruction in upper-elementary classrooms. However, the magnitudes of these relationships appear smaller than the prevailing narrative has warned. Further, our findings call into question the hypothesis that test rigor can serve as a lever to elevate test preparation to ambitious teaching. Therefore, improving the quality of mathematics instruction in the midst of high-stakes testing likely will require that policymakers and school leaders undertake comprehensive efforts that look beyond the tests themselves.
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source	JSTOR Archival Journals; Sage Journals Online
subjects	Accountability Achievement tests Educational Policy Educational Quality Elementary education Elementary School Mathematics Grade 4 Grade 5 High Stakes Tests Hypothesis Testing Mathematics Mathematics Instruction Mathematics Tests Observation Prediction Regression (Statistics) Teacher Effectiveness Teacher Surveys Teachers Teaching Teaching Methods Test Preparation
title	Does Test Preparation Mean Low-Quality Instruction?
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