Teaching in a high stakes testing environment: one teacher's practices and perspectives

The study was situated in an elementary school located in an urban setting in the southwestern part of the United States. The school serves a low SES minority neighborhood of predominantly Hispanic students who have traditionally not scored well on standardized wide-scale achievement tests. Often teachers in this setting engage their students in test preparations which reflect a skill-based approach to literacy teaching as opposed to a focus on higher level thinking and a transactional approach to literacy instruction. The teacher who is the focus of this study embraces a learner-centered view of instruction. She aims to promote critical thinking among her students through the reading of good literature, engagement in activities that build on students' knowledge base, and promotion of learner constructed knowledge. Her expectations for student accomplishment do not endorse a deficit view of children's intellect and potential.

The results of the study suggest that teachers who facilitate student's knowledge development rather than engaging in test preparations, along with principals who support teachers in the "literacy of thoughtfulness," can help minority students score well on standardized achievement tests.