Four of these states directly punish low performing schools by taking aid away from them. While some states use test scores as one of several accountability indicators, too many rely solely on scores. All of this has raised increasing questions about what is appropriate and inappropriate about using student test scores to trigger policy actions that affect schools. Although the potential misuse of test scores is an issue for schools nationwide, it can have an especially strong impact on small and rural schools, due to their sizes and demographics. Much of the research on standardized testing concludes that tests can be biased against minority and low-income students.
Tests generally draw from the vocabulary and experiences of white middle and upper class students.
If racial and socioeconomic factors are not controlled for, test scores may not accurately reflect student ability or aptitude. Moreover, in many small and rural schools, there may be only a handful of students taking the test upon which fiscal decisions are based. Statistically, small sample sizes are considered unreliable because too much of the outcome can be determined by chance. The results may not be representative of the quality of learning for the entire school. Small changes in the student population, such as the movement in or out of just one or two families with high or low scoring children, can introduce a particularly powerful bias.