Consequences of Standards Testing

Using tests for these various purposes can lead to a lot of anxiety on the part of students, teachers, principals, and parents. Because the tests are used to determine AYP status, principals and teachers are often very anxious about the ranking of their school—as one making “adequate yearly progress” or as a school “in need of improvement.” Keep in mind that AYP is calculated not only for the school as a whole but for a list of subgroups including racial , ethnic and language groups, students in special education, and students meeting criteria as disadvantaged, and that both school attendance and test scores are used to determine AYP.

Consequences for the School

AYP. Schools that fail to meet AYP standards must develop and have approved a school improvement plan and may be eligible for state and/or district technical assistance. But there are sanctions for schools that fail to meet AYP for two, three, four or five consecutive years for any of their student groups—even if all other groups are succeeding. These consequences include providing for student transfers to successful schools, offering tutoring, or ultimately facing a takeover by the state or assignment to a private manager for failing to make AYP for five consecutive years. Because some schools have attained very different results for their different populations of students, many are concerned about failing to meet AYP for all students. Indeed, following the first year of full NCLB implementation, many schools generally considered successful for most students found themselves labeled as “needing improvement.”

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