Views of Teachers on the Potential Negative Effects of High Stake Tests

Abstract

This study analyses teachers’ viewpoints on the potential undesirable influences of high stake exams. Seven stimulants related to undesirable influences of high stake exams on education were given to 191 teachers in a pairwise comparisons format. The participating teachers in this study were asked to choose one undesirable influence by comparing the stimulants given to them in pairwise and to determine the more prominent problem stemming from high stake exams. Data were analyzed via many-facet Rasch model. As a result, it was found that teachers considered the stimulant “school assessments turn into secondary importance in the eyes of students and parents” as the foremost problem stemming from high stake exams. On the other hand, the stimulant “administors focus on policies for increasing exam scores instead of policies for improving the learning–teaching process” ranked the last in the undesirable influences of high stake exams.

Keywords

• High–stake tests
• Paired comparisons
• Many facet Rasch model
• Scaling method

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