These frameworks or guidelines also tell us what is and is not considered to be a legitimate school subject. Some teachers however, incorporate some of these 'illegitimate' subject matters into their curriculums. Teachers can however, address these problems in their curriculums and I ve seen several teachers attempt to do this in Los Angeles county. The temptation to teach students to do well on standardized tests is almost unavoidable since performance on such tests is how the entire school system is evaluated. Students are admitted to college based on how well they do on tests.
Teachers receive raises based on the results of the tests their students take.
The problem is not only in the practice of teaching to the test, but in the tests themselves. The tests are populated with questions that have simple, objective answers. These types of tests emphasize the memorization of facts and formulas. In today's system, tests do not so much derive from our notion of education, they drive it. Many parents and communities have a right to know how well their children are learning and have used the results of standardized tests to measure this.