l estate agents use school test scores to rate neighborhood quality and this affects the cost of property. According to Amrein and Berliner, test scores have been shown to affect housing prices resulting in a difference of about $9,000 between homes in grade ôAö school neighborhoods and grade ôBö school neighborhoods. Consequently, the grading of school has become an important factor and schools should take the necessary steps to assure that all students perform to higher levels of achievement.
At the national and state levels, test scores are used primarily to evaluate educational programs, determine allocation of educational resources, and determine the local salary of certified school personnel. Currently, many states use student scores from state tests to determine the allocation of millions of dollars to schools (Amrein & Berliner, 2002).
The current state of faith and reliance on tests began with the launching of Sputnik in 1957. At that time, the economic and political rival, the Soviet Union, beat the United States to space, causing journalists and politicians to question American education with great intensity. Subsequently, federal and state politicians became more actively engaged in reforming education, including advocacy for increased use of tests to assess student learning (Amrein & Berliner, 2002).
The belief that student achievement in U.S. schools was declining led politicians in the 1970s to legislate minimum competency testing in an effort to reform AmericanÆs schools (Berliner and Biddle, 1995). Many states began to use minimum competency tests to ensure, in theory that all students would learn at least minimum skills needed to function as a productive citizen. With the release of the 1981 report, A Nation at Risk by the U. S. Department of Education, a push to end minimum competency testing and initiate high stakes testing became a major educational issue (Berliner and Biddle, 1995). Those who advoca...