Such high stakes appear to be having the effect sought by state policymakers. Local education leaders are matching local curricula to the state standards, and a new urgency now surrounds the issue of remedial education for low-achieving students. In state after state, the push for accountability has dominated recent school reform efforts. State policymakers increasingly have latched onto high-stakes standardized tests as an arbiter of rewards and sanctions. Depending on the state, low test scores can trigger a loss of funding, state intervention or takeover, or staff dismissals.
Scores also can determine whether students graduate or are promoted.
Nineteen states mandate students pass an exit exam to graduate from high school, and six states now or soon will link student promotion to test scores. Two states link teacher evaluations to student performance. Students must pass the 10th-grade TAAS to graduate from high school. And a new state teacher-evaluation program uses schoolwide TAAS scores to assess teacher performance. New York state just conducted the first round of a more demanding reading test designed to help rate the quality of academic programs.