Cyerra Pemberton

Prof. Madden

ENG 1201 Online

13 July 2019

Annotated Bibliography

My essay will attempt to answer the question of what the effect of standardized testing is

on students, and whether it is overall positive or negative. I would like to know why students

must take these tests, and how it affects them physically, emotionally, and mentally. I want to

understand why there is such a negative view of standardized testing, and if these tests can hurt

students that take them. How do students’ stress and anxiety levels increase? What is the most

common opinion among the public and scholars on high-stakes or standardized testing? I want to

know everything that can happen or change due to these tests in relation to students in the United

States.

The Glossary of Education Reform. Great Schools Partnership, 2014, www.edglossary.org.

Accessed 11 July 2019.

This website, titled “The Glossary of Education Reform” and created by Great Schools

Partnership, was last updated in November, 2015. It provides very detailed definitions of

anything regarding education or education reform. There are many words on the site that are

related to the topic of reform. Each page includes some basic information, such as an in-detail
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summary and definition of the word of choice, issues that face this topic within society or

government, how it affects certain aspects of education reform, and it gives some insight into any

debates regarding the topic, explaining all major sides and giving their reasons as to why they

believe what they believe.

This is a website for anyone who is looking for more information about education reform,

but it specifically targets journalists, parents, and community members. It informs people of

many topics that are brought up within reform conversations/debates, and it allows those who

view it to understand many sides of the debates regarding these terms and ideas.

The writer is not specifically listed, as the definitions are provided by the website, but

Great Schools Partnership, the websites creator, is a reform-based organization focused on

helping students in schools, and by giving parents, journalists, and community members access

to the information they need, they can reach the people through this website. I looked up the

definitions of some of the words on the site, and they were very comparable to the definitions of

those words from other sources. The information is decently current, many of the words’

definitions being updated very currently.

This website is relevant to my research questions because it allows me basic information

and understanding of many topics and terms I will use to answer my questions. It can answer

simple questions such as those related to the definitions of standardized test, high-stakes testing,

education reform, test anxiety/test stress, etc.

“High Stakes Testing.” YouTube, uploaded by Coppellisd, 30 Jan. 2013,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7uMptGnGO4. Accessed 6 July 2019.

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“High Stakes Testing,” by Coppellisd is a video of Dr. Jeff Turner, a superintendent of an

independent school district in Texas. Dr. Turner speaks about issues within standardized testing,

and the high-stakes testing “hysteria” in Texas. The Texas education reform that has been taking

place for many years is mentioned many times, and Dr. Turner shares his personal negative

views of the tests, as well as achievements he has made in reform.

The purpose of this video is to share events that have occurred in Texas with school

reform, and to share why more reform needs to occur. It reaches out to the government,

community members, and every day people to help the reform.

The publisher of the video, the Coppellisd channel, is the school channel of a school

district in Texas. The school in an independent district, and they are very adamant, as it seems,

about their students’ health, emotionally and physically. This video provides first-hand accounts

of Dr. Turner’s feelings about testing. Dr. Jeff Turner has been a big part of pushing the state of

Texas to hold back on testing and reform testing as much as possible.

I plan to use this video to show how people have been reacting to standardized testing, as

well as to get another opinion from a person involved in the scene. I will use this video to help

answer the question of whether standardized testing is overall positive or negative.

Kamenetz, Anya. Interview by Drake Baer. Here's how standardized tests like the SAT have

poisoned America's classrooms, 7 May 2015, www.businessinsider.com/anya-kamenetz-

the-test-interview-2015-5. Accessed 13 July 2019.

The interview titled, Here’s how standardized tests like the SAT have poisoned America’s

classrooms by Drake Baer was published in May, 2015, and published by Insider Inc. It gives
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some insight into how standardized testing has changed schools. It begins with an introduction to

Anya Kamenetz, the interviewee. The interview begins with the question of why standardized

testing is an issue. The next questions ask where these tests originated, and how the origin is still

relevant today. Kamenetz says that students must be taught things that will help them in their

daily lives as adults, and confirms that circumstances can change the score from student to

student. Kamenetz concludes with the idea that she and others like her would like to change

education to be impactful on helping students understand who they are and what they can do.

Baer and Kamenetz are trying to reach an audience of students, parents, journalists, and

others like them, who have an interest in education and reform. Baer’s goal was to educate

people about the issues within the education world, according to Kamenetz and her colleagues

and partners.

Baer is the Deputy Editor at Business Insider, and has been a senior writer at New York

Magazine and Arianna Huffington’s Thrive Global. He received his Bachelors of Science in

News-Editorial Journalism at the College of Media at the University of Illinois. Kamenetz is a

lead education blogger at NPR, a columnist for Tribune Media Services, and a former staff writer

for Fast Company Magazine. She has written many books about education, and has been in this

field for several years. She graduated from Yale University.

I will be using the information from this interview in my essay because it has many

pieces of information that can answer some of my questions, with mentions of test anxiety,

circumstantial gaps, and the overall rejection of standardized testing from someone who is very

educated about the topic.

Miller, D. W. “Scholars Say High-Stakes Tests Deserve a Failing Grade.” Chronicle of Higher

Education, vol. 47, no. 25, 2 Mar. 2001, p. A14. EBSCOhost,

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search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=4145482&site=ehost-live.

Accessed 13 July 2019.

“Scholars Say High-Stakes Tests Deserve a Failing Grade,” by D. W. Miller was

published in March 2001 by the Chronicle of Higher Education. It gives several reasons why

high-stakes tests should not be implemented in schools. It begins with a lack of scientific basis,

then goes into how it takes imprecise measurements of students’ abilities. Then, it says that these

tests cause teachers to “teach to the test,” and that the tests alienate students. It ends by

explaining that these tests put expectations that are too high are students and teachers.

Miller wants to reach out to educators, students, and those in the state system about how

tests are not an efficient way to gage students’ abilities. Miller wants to put out the message that

standardized tests are not helping anyone, and should be fixed.

I know this source is credible because Miller is a credible author. Miller has many

scholarly pieces published on libguides. The piece being on the libguides databases makes it

more reliable as well. The Chronicle of Higher Education is known for its work. The claims in

this article are comparable to claims made in other articles on this topic.

I will use this piece to answer the question of what the effects of standardized tests on

students are. I will cite specific claims in my essay to support my claims, and I will use this to

include some common opinions of tests from scholars.

Segool, Natasha K., et al. “Heightened Test Anxiety among Young Children: Elementary School

Students’ Anxious Responses to High-Stakes Testing.” Psychology in the Schools, vol.

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50, no. 5, May 2013, pp. 489–499. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1002/pits.21689. Accessed 6 July

2019.

“Heightened Test Anxiety among Young Children: Elementary School Students’

Anxious Responses to High-Stakes Testing,” by Natasha K. Segool, et al., describes scientific

effects of high-stakes/ standardized testing on children in grades 3-5. It was published in 2013 by

Psychology in the Schools. This article provides specific data derived from studies conducted

with students. It compares low-stakes testing anxiety levels to high-stakes testing anxiety levels.

The study found that students showed test anxiety in many forms when related to high-stakes

testing.

The purpose of this article/study is to inform people of the effects of high-stakes testing,

and to give insight from a Psychologist’s point of view. The audience of this article is other

scholars, psychologists, and those involved with the education community.

The authors of this article all have Bachelor's degrees from numerous universities. Segool

graduated from the University of Hartford with a PhD. All of the other authors have a PhD in

fields in or related to Psychology. Most are psychologists with experience in the field. With so

many doctors collaborating on one piece, it is more likely to be more accurate. The info in this

article is supported by other information in the fact that almost every source says that test anxiety

increases with standardized tests.

I will use this source to cite specific data and quotes from the scholars involved in this

work. I will use it to answer what the effects of testing are mentally, physically, and emotionally.

I will use this to answer my questions with scientific backup.

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Skinner, Kayleigh. “‘Crying real tears’: Educators testify about the role of standardized testing.”

Mississippi Today, Mississippi Today, 22 Jan. 2019.

mississippitoday.org/2019/01/22/crying-real-tears-educators-testify-about-the-toll-of-

standardized-testing/. Accessed 14 July 2019.

“‘Crying real tears’: Educators testify about the role of standardized testing,” is written

by Kayleigh Skinner, and was released in Jan. 2019. It is published by Mississippi Today. It

begins and introduction to MAAP testing, and how and when it was implemented. It then gives

many accounts of teachers having trouble with these tests, and feeling frustrated due to them. It

talks about a hearing in Mississippi, where teachers admitted to lots of stress on students. It

continues to give more emotional accounts of the topic. At the end, there is an “About” of the

author, Kayleigh Skinner.

Skinner was trying to put an emphasis on how people feel about the education system in

Mississippi. Skinner was targeting younger people, as well as students, parents, and teachers. She

was trying to reach the citizens of Mississippi to give them a message from their fellow citizens.

With this being written in 2019, but the MAAP tests being implemented in the 2014-2015 school

year, this shows how the test has affected students and teachers of a period of time, and how the

test may not get easier.

Skinner graduated from the University of Mississippi. She is a member of the 2018 class

of the ProPublica and Ida B. Wells Society Data Institute, and of the 2016 Robert F. Kennedy

Human Rights Journalism Award-winning team. She belongs to the Investigative Reporters and

Editors, the National Association of Black Journalists, and the Education Writers Association.
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Before her career with Mississippi today, she worked for The Hechinger Report, The (Memphis)

Commercial Appeal and Chalkbeat Tennessee. She has had work on PBS NewsHour.

I plan to use this to cite quotes from teachers who have experienced how standardized

testing can affect students on an emotional/mental level. This article also shows a more local

aspect of things instead of national view, which can help broaden the information presented in

my paper.

Swain, Katharine, and Donna Pendergast. “Student voice: Student feelings as they journey

through National Assessment (NAPLAN).” Australian Journal of Education (Sage

Publications Ltd.), vol. 62, no. 2, Aug. 2018, pp. 108–134. EBSCOhost,

doi:10.1177/0004944118779602.

“Student voice: Student feelings as they journey through National Assessment

(NAPLAN),” by Katharine Swaine and Donna Pendergast was published in August, 2018 by the

Australian Journal of Education. This is a study of primary students in Queensland Australia and

their feelings while taking the NAPLAN tests, or standardized tests given in Australia. The study

was over students in years three, five, and seven at two schools. It provides words and images

depicted by the 34 students involved. Many of the images/words of the students showed negative

feelings before, during, and directly after the test, but usually more positive feelings once the

results were received.

The purpose of this study is to show how standardized testing programs, such as

NAPLAN, make students feel. The study had a goal of inspiring more, widespread research
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about students’ reactions to NAPLAN. The audience is other scientists, NAPLAN officianados,

and people who have an interest in NAPLAN and test reform.

The writers, Swain and Pendergast both have college educations. Pendergast is a

professor at Griffith University, and Swain has a PhD and teaches at Flinders University in

Australia. The study was found on the Sinclair libguides, on Academic Search Complete, which

makes it a more reliable source. The publisher, the Australian Journal of Education, is

internationally peer-reviewed. It has been around for over 60 years, and is a very credible source

of information for many.

I will use this source to show how many students feel about standardized testing

personally. It will help to answer the question of what the effects of testing are, and how testing

changes students mentality. I will cite specific numbers and data from this study to support my

argument.