Date Approved

6-29-2005

Embargo Period

4-13-2016

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

M.S. in Teaching

Department

Interdisciplinary and Inclusive Education

College

College of Education

Advisor

Madden, Marjorie

Subject(s)

Educational evaluation--New Jersey; Educational tests and measurements--Law and legislation--New Jersey

Disciplines

Teacher Education and Professional Development

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to further investigate the topic of standardized testing. A controversial topic within the educational world, the researcher seeks to discover the views and opinions of these tests from teachers. Surveys, interviews and a research journal are used to collect data for this study. The setting of the study is a small district in the northern part of New Jersey. The subjects in this study are elementary, middle, and high school teachers. There are 52 participants in this study (10 male, 42 female). To analyze the data, the surveys are looked at first in three groups: elementary school, middle school, and high school. Secondly, results are considered across all teacher groups. Upon completion of this study, the researcher found that majority of teachers felt extreme pressure to have students perform well on these exams. These teachers also felt that standardized tests are not an accurate measure of one's teaching/academic ability. Many teachers feel the consequences of high-stakes exams are unfair to students. A suggestion to further research this topic might be to examine the various statewide exams across grade levels, as well as investigate the opinions and views of a diverse population of students.

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