High-Stakes Testing, Teacher Practice, and Equity-Oriented Education in the United States and Canada: A Vygotskian Approach

• In Event: Civic Engagement and Equity: Dimensions of Exclusion, Identity, and Community

Abstract

Using a Vygotskian approach which understand teaching and learning (including high stakes testing) as culturally mediated human activity and interaction(s),this article presents the findings of a mixed-method research project studying the impact of high stakes testing (HST) on teacher practice with regard to equity-oriented education in Canada and the US. Based on interviews with teachers in urban schools in Los Angeles and Toronto, as well as surveys sent to over 140,000 teachers across Ontario, Chicago, New York City, and Los Angeles, this paper examines the intra and international divergences and convergences of the ways teachers and teacher practice are impacted by HST, with a focus on both the limitations and opportunities within teacher practice, produced by HST.

Author

• Arlo Kempf, University of California - Los Angeles