The Enigma of High-Stakes Testing in Science

The Enigma of High-Stakes Testing in Science is an eBook published by the Art of Teaching Science. This eBook is based on blog posts that were written over the past few months. The content of this eBook is based on the position that high-­‐stakes testing, which are used to make life-­‐changing decisions about students, teachers, and schools, should be banned from use in making life-changing decisions affecting students, teachers, or schools. Research evidence is provided in 21 articles that are presented here, and organized into five parts. The intent is to provide information that others can use to raise questions about why we continue this practice of bringing such pressure to bear on the entire education system, the collateral effects on science teaching. As I show in the pages that follow, there is little evidence that continuing to use high-­‐stakes testing will improve student achievement, or improve America’s economy.