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Running heau: REABINu TEACBERS' PERCEPTI0NS 0F BIuB-STAKES TESTINu IN A

S0CCESSF0L ELENENTARY SCB00L: A CASE ST0BY





Reading Teachers Perceptions of High-Stakes Testing in a Successful Elementary
School: A Case Study
Emily Kyle Thompson
University of North Texas








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ELENENTARY SCB00L: A CASE ST0BY
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Reading Teachers Perceptions of High-Stakes Testing in a Successful Elementary
School: A Case Study
Purpose of Study
The purpose of this study is to gain an in-depth understanding of how teachers perceive
high-stakes testing and the impact of high-stakes tests and test scores on students. Currently there
are no case studies that exist on this topic and a majority of the research that is available use only
quantitative data. By using case study design teachers voices can be heard. By combining
current research with findings from this case study, policy makers will have a clearer picture of
what is happening in the classroom when it comes to high-stakes assessment.
Over-arching/Guiding Research Question and Sub-questions
How do reading teachers view high-stakes testing?
a. How do reading teachers perceive the effects of high-stakes test scores?
b. What are reading teachers perceptions about the effects of high-stakes tests on their
students?
c. What teaching practices do classroom reading teachers report using in preparation for
high-stakes tests?
Research Context/Setting
The research study will be conducted at a successful public elementary school in the
Denton Independent School District. For this study successful is defined as having earned an
academic achievement distinction in reading/English language arts by the Texas Education
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Agency. To earn a distinction the school collectively must score in the top quartile in at least two
categories. Categories are defined as student achievement, student progress, and closing
performance gaps. The school will include but is not limited to students in grades three through
five as those are grades participating in state mandated high-stakes testing. The research study
will take place from February first through the week of STAAR reading testing.
For the 2013 school year there are two elementary schools in the Denton Independent
School District that earned academic achievement distinctions in reading/English language arts.
Nelson elementary is located in southeast Denton, Texas and serves 651 students in Kindergarten
through fifth grade. In the 2013 school year 32.3 percent of students were labeled as
economically disadvantaged and 6.6 percent of students were labeled as English language
learners. Wilson elementary is located in northeast Denton, Texas and serves 603 students in
Kindergarten through fifth grade. In the 2013 school year 46.3 percent of students were labeled
economically disadvantaged and 18.7 percent of students were labeled as English language
learners.
Research Participants
Participants recruited for this research study will be teachers of third through fifth grade
reading/English language arts classes. Participants should have a current Texas teaching
certificate. The number of research participants will vary based on the number of teachers in
each grade level and subject area. Other participants involved in the research study will be
individuals from the school that meet with the teachers regarding educational decisions based on
assessment data collected. These participants could hold the title of interventionist, reading
specialist, or inclusion teacher. There is no specific gender, racial/ethnic composition, or age
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range for participants. Table one shows the breakdown of teachers by grade level at both Nelson
elementary and Wilson elementary that are potential research sites based on criteria stated above.
Table 1
Teachers by Grade Level At Nelson and Wilson Elementary Schools
Grade Level Nelson Elementary Wilson Elementary
3
rd
grade 4 4
4
th
grade 5 5
5
th
grade 5 4
Total 14 13
Note: The number of teachers from each grade level that specifically teach reading is not known
at this time.









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REABINu TEACBERS' PERCEPTI0NS 0F BIuB-STAKES TESTINu IN A S0CCESSF0L
ELENENTARY SCB00L: A CASE ST0BY
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Data Collection Methods
Semi-Structured
Qualitative
Interview
Document
Analysis
Participant
Observation
Survey
How do reading
teachers view high-
stakes testing?

*

*

How do reading
teachers perceive the
effects of high-
stakes test scores?

*





*
What are reading
teachers perceptions
about the effects of
high-stakes tests on
their students?

*

*

*
What teaching
practices do
classroom reading
teachers report using
in preparation for
high-stakes tests?

*

*





Anticipated Procedures for Data Gathering
1. I plan on conducting two one-hour semi-structured interviews with each participant. By using
a semi-structured interview protocol I can ensure that all participants are asked the same
questions but there is still freedom to ask follow-up or probing questions based on participant
responses (Brenner, 2006). Each interview will cover two of the research questions. The reason
for breaking up the interviews into two sessions is to protect against participant exhaustion that
could result in a longer one-time interview. Interviews will be audio recorded so that transcripts
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can be made from the conversation. Due to the use of audio recording an expedited IRB
application will be needed prior to research.
2. An analysis of school and district documents will be conducted to see how test preparation is
suggested from both the campus and district level. This will allow for comparison between what
teachers report they do to prepare students for high-stakes testing and what is
suggested/mandated from a higher authority. By analyzing these documents further questions can
be developed based on interview responses about test preparation. In order to generate data from
the analysis field notes will be taken.
3. When attending data meetings between teachers and interventionists/reading
specialists/inclusion teachers, data will be gathered through field notes taken at the meeting.
These field notes will be a combination of literal accounts of what took place at the meeting
along with researcher thoughts, feelings, and wonderings. Upon completion of the meeting the
researcher will add more detail to the notes while it is still easily remembered. The goal is to
provide thick descriptions of what took place (Denzin, 2001).
4. A likert scale survey will be developed to collect data from teachers regarding their
perceptions of the effects of high-stakes testing and test scores on students. This data will be
used to triangulate findings from the semi-structured qualitative interviews and participant
observation of data meetings.
Anticipated Procedures for Data Analysis
General inductive analysis will be used to generate findings from the semi-structured
interview transcripts, field notes, and document analysis. The steps for analysis will come from
Thomas (2006) procedure for using a general inductive analysis for qualitative data.
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1. Data cleaning: This step prepares the raw data files (transcripts and field notes) for
analysis. Data that has been cleaned has similar font sizes, margins, and interviewer
questions/comments highlighted for easy recognition.
2. Close reading of text: Once data has been cleaned the researcher reads data files
thoroughly until the researcher is familiar with the content and a general
understanding of themes and events within the data emerges.
3. Creating of categories: When the researcher has a general understanding of themes
he/she then defines categories/themes. Themes are more general and are derived from
the evaluation aims. Categories are lower-level and come from multiple readings of
the raw data.
4. Overlapping coding and uncoded text: Raw data may be coded into more than one
category which is different than the quantitative coding rules. Additionally, a
considerable amount of the text may not be included in any category as it may be
irrelevant to the research aims.
5. Continuing revision and refinement of category system: When data has been placed in
a category the researcher must continue to search for subtopics, new insights, and
contradictory points of view. When continually looking at the categories it may been
seen that two categories can be combined and linked when meanings are similar.
Anticipated Audience/Purpose/Format of Report
Research will be conducted with test administrators, test developers, and policy makers in
mind. The goal of this research project is to affect change regarding high-stakes testing therefore
it is important to have individuals that are capable of making these changes as an audience. The
research report will review literature of similar studies that are mainly quantitative in nature.
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Then the current research will be explained and findings will be presented. The discussion will
combine research findings from the present study with research presented in the literature review
to make a clearer well rounded picture of the perceptions and effects of high-stakes testing. This
case study design will be able to provide voice to the teachers as their responses will be included
as part of the report.














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REABINu TEACBERS' PERCEPTI0NS 0F BIuB-STAKES TESTINu IN A S0CCESSF0L
ELENENTARY SCB00L: A CASE ST0BY
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Reference
Brenner, M. E. (2006). Interviewing in educational research. In J. L. Green, G. Camilli & P. B.
Elmore (Eds.), Handbook of complimentary methods in education research (pp. 357-
370). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc.
Denzin, N. K. (2001). Interpretive interactionism. (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
Publications Inc.
Thomas, D. R. (2006). A general inductive approach for analyzing qualitative evaluation data.
American Journal of Evaluation, 27(2), 237-346. doi: 10.1177/1098214005283748