The relationship between drop-out rates and high-stake exams

John D.

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The relationship between drop-out rates and high-stake exams

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Issues on education took up a complicated level wherein the micro aspects of this pervasive social institution are given much scholarly attention. Recently, a concern about the effect of increased use of high-stake testing on students' academic performance has baffled the intellectual circle. This created two opposing walls; the advocates who believe that different sort of high- stakes testing will motivate students to work harder and achieve higher, and the critics who strongly suppose that failing a high-stake exam will push a student to the verge of academic collapse through dropping out.
The term "high-stakes" is used to describe tests that have high stakes for individual students, such as grade promotion or a standard high school diploma. Thus, high-stakes testing is intended to hold individual students liable for their own test performance, dissimilar "system accountability," which is designed at the providers of education, such as states, school districts, and schools

The rationale of testing students.
Advocates of standard- based reform and high- stakes testing.
In the 1980's, testing became a foundation of the education reform movement.
The results of Linn's research in 2004.
A related study by Ysseldyke et al (1998).
The strongest determinant of whether students will dropout of school.
Students who have to undergo testing as mandated by schools are affected adversely.

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[...] This makes a difference in increasing the over-all passing rates and creates a better picture of the total performance of all test-takers regardless if some who took the tests are not performers. Ysseldykes' study cited some states policy of exempting English as Second Language learners so as not to contribute to the lower scores. An interesting argument by highly regarded scholars is recently credibly studied in lieu to the debate about whether graduation testing causes increased dropout rates. The research of Clarke et.al (2000) noted that many students who do not perform well in academics have the tendency to avoid these tests; more so, the mere fact of failing is enough as a demotivating factor for students to leave school. [...]

[...] Parsons assert that "education is the verifying ground for ability and therefore the discerning agency for placing people in different statuses according to their capacities." Functionalists suppose that the strain of industrial society for a skilled labor force is met by the educational system. Regarding on the theories of Emile Durkheim and Talcott Parsons, high- stakes testing prove to be a proficient way to delegate apt employees in the labor market. The unintended consequences of this high-stakes testing seem to be an important component of the tightly-knitted relationship between education and economy. On the reverse wall of this issue, the adversaries of high-stake testing attack on the advocates' arguments by means of specifying the unconstructive end result of high-stake testing. [...]

[...] The dichotomy between public and private schools is rather appealing in the examination of the effect of high-stake testing on students' academic performance. James Coleman and his associates (J.S. Coleman et al., 1982) concluded that private high schools provide a better education than public high schools. Coleman found, even when controlling for such important factors as parents' social class and education that private school students do better than their public school counterparts on tests of reading and mathematical ability and measures of self-esteem. [...]

[...] And one test alone could not predict the acquired knowledge and skills of a student. Making graduation and promotion decisions should not be solely based on test results alone. Test result are just one part or aspect of the students total intelligence, so the use of test score to make promotional decisions and deciding whether a student should graduate or not is not fair. Different sources of information should be sought after. The question that arises from this problem is whether school officials, educators and test developers are dully trained or not. [...]

[...] Quality control in the development and use of performance assessment. Applied Measurement in Education 289-304. Dunning, D. (1999). A newer look: Motivated social cognition and the schematic representation of social concepts. Psychological inquiry 11. (p.63) Elmore, R. (2000). Building a New Structure For School Leadership. Washington, DC: The Albert Shanker Institute. Heubert, J. P. (2002). High-stakes testing: opportunities and risks for students of color, English-Language Learners, and students with disabilities. Wakefield, MA: National Center on Accessing the General Curriculum. Kunda, Z. [...]

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