| Retention and dropout statistics reveal the structural conditions of educational attainment of minority students after the advent of high-stakes testing in Texas. Still to be understood is how students most affected by these tests experience these macro effects in their everyday lives at school. This study examines high-stakes testing from the students' perspective. The purpose of this study is to look at what really happens to students under this policy and to understand how they experience and interpret the testing policy in Texas. Thorough descriptions of their experiences with exit-level graduation tests were interpreted, constructed and linked together to form detailed accounts of their everyday lives in school under this policy. The present study revealed several patterns among students' experiences with high-stakes testing in their everyday lives at school: (1) testing defines the nature of relationships among school, students, and parents such that relationships function for the school to look better, (2) intense focus on test scores has narrowed the curriculum and reduces meaningful teaching and learning; (3) testing colors the relationships of students to teachers and students to students, by sorting students according by how high they are likely to score and valuing them accordingly; (4) as the time of test nears, preparation for it intensifies; and (5) after the tests, there is nothing left of school. Qualitative interpretation of students' experiences indicates that school reform enforcing a central, standard vision of policy has more of a symbolic effect rather than an instrumental effect on students' lives. |
