From the annals of: High Stakes Testing’s Unintended Consequences

by David Safier

Field Elementary School in Dallas,Texas, really emphasized reading and math for its third graders. I mean, really emphasized it. Though students were given grades on their report cards for science, social studies and music, none of those subjects were taught. The school's principal is currently on administrative leave.

The purpose of the intensive reading and math instruction was to raise student scores on the state tests. Interestingly, it looks like the school succeeded in raising student scores. Which raises a question. Was it worth sacrificing other subjects to raise student achievement in reading and math?

Before the question can be answered, I would have to know a few things. Were the students being tutored in math and reading, or were they given extensive test prep? Would a different achievement test, one the students hadn't been prepped for, yield the same impressive results? Also, if the principal and teachers were willing to game the system by creating false grades on student report cards, were they also fiddling with test results in other ways? There are lots of ways to bump up student scores that have nothing to do with what students know, from blatant acts like changing student scores to "teaching" students items you know are on the test to coaching students during test time.