Title: What Does the Research Say About Testing? | Edutopia
Headings: What Does the Research Say About Testing?
Assessment
What Does the Research Say About Testing?
By Carly Berwick
Not All Tests Are Bad
Testing Format Matters
Setting the Right Testing Conditions

Content: What Does the Research Say About Testing? | Edutopia
Michael Gibbs / theiSpot
Assessment
What Does the Research Say About Testing? There’s too much testing in schools, most teachers agree, but well-designed classroom tests and quizzes can improve student recall and retention. By Carly Berwick
October 25, 2019
For many teachers, the image of students sitting in silence filling out bubbles, computing mathematical equations, or writing timed essays causes an intensely negative reaction. Since the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) in 2002 and its 2015 update, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), every third through eighth grader in U.S. public schools now takes tests calibrated to state standards, with the aggregate results made public. In a study of the nation’s largest urban school districts, students took an average of 112 standardized tests between pre-K and grade 12. This annual testing ritual can take time from genuine learning, say many educators, and puts pressure on the least advantaged districts to focus on test prep—not to mention adding airless, stultifying hours of proctoring to teachers’ lives. “ Tests don’t explicitly teach anything. Teachers do,” writes Jose Vilson, a middle school math teacher in New York City. Instead of standardized tests, students “should have tests created by teachers with the goal of learning more about the students’ abilities and interests,” echoes Meena Negandhi, math coordinator at the French American Academy in Jersey City, New Jersey.