Research shows that grade retention does far more harm
than good by increasing the dropout rate and hurting long-term student achievement.
The tests have not been fully evaluated for their use
in making high stakes decision about individual students. The test's
original purpose was to judge how well schools or school districts were
educating students. The tests were not designed to make important
decisions about individual children.
Some students simply don't perform well on tests even
though they may have the knowledge needed to move on to the next grade.
Also, the tests have a built in margin of error which means that the tests
may not reflect what the students really know.
Relying on a test score to decide who is promoted discourages
persistence and hard work during the school year. Using test scores
to decide who is promoted or retained also discounts the judgment of the
classroom teacher who has observed the student's progress over the entire
school year.
Relying primarily on a test score to determine a child's
educational future ignores what we know about the development of human intelligence--
that children learn at different rates. Children are human beings
with unique skills and abilities, most of which cannot be measured by a
multiple choice test.
It would be unfair to deny a diploma to students who have
completed all of the other requirements simply because a student cannot
make a passing score on a standardized test. Such a policy places
enormous power in the hands of the small group of government officials who
write the test. It can also encourage many of our students to drop
out of school.
Tests may be unfair to some groups of students because
of racial or cultural biases. These concerns cannot be discounted
as long as the test questions and answers are not seen by most parents or
the public.
High stakes testing may be unfair to some students because
the quality of a child's education often is determined by the resources
available in the child's school or the quality of instruction provided by
the child's teacher. Until we can guarantee that all children have
equal educational opportunities, we should not make crucial decisions about
their future based primarily on a test.
