U.S. News conducted research on figuring out if tests take away from the classroom due to the amount of test prep needed. In fact, “one 2012 study found that instructional quality declined with the rise of high stakes testing, especially in the weeks before the exam.”(usnews.com) In order to obtain that conclusion, researchers recorded teachers lessons weeks leading up to high stakes exams. and low stakes exams. According to the results, both situations had poor instruction. Essentially, the more difficult test did not help teachers improve their test prep. Another interesting finding from the videos was, “the quality gap between a teacher’s regular lessons and her test prep lessons was largest in a school district where the teaching quality was the highest.” (usnews.com) In the beginning of this study, tests were made more difficult to see if the test prep improved; it did not. However, not all of the videos contained poor test prep skills. Some of the best videos contained teachers providing cognitive review that included analogies for percentages in math. Therefore, instead of altering exams to help the teachers improve, teachers should just work together and share ideas. One of the best ways to succeed in something is to learn from the people around you.
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