The Effects of Standardized Assessments on Academic Identities and Opportunities to Learn in Middle School

• In Event: 77.056 - Fairmont Royal York Roundtable Session Seven
  In Roundtable Session: 77.056-6 - Perspectives on Assessment and Learning

Abstract

Using ethnographic data collected in a California middle school, this study examined factors that shape students’ academic identities and create and maintain disparities in academic achievement. The practice of high-stakes achievement testing emerged as the primary school influence on the study participants’ identities as learners. Through social identification processes, the results of standardized achievement assessments became indicators of who students are as learners, as well as their learning potentials, rather than simply scores on a test. The system of achievement assessments affected access to curricula and quality instruction and also influenced the relationships and interactions between students and teachers. Consequently, learning opportunities were expanded for some students and diminished for others.

Author

• Gina Arnone, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill