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In an effort to help the community
understand current basic concerns about civil rights, we have published
the following Civil Rights in Brief which summarize
these issues and can help you learn what you can do to protect them.
Statewide and national tests in schools have become
increasingly popular, despite the civil rights concerns that they
raise. Testing is viewed by policymakers and the public as a way
to improve the quality of schools in a cost-effective and efficient
manner. A 1997 survey found that 71 percent of adults felt that
students would work harder if required to pass a test before graduation
(Johnson and Farkas). These tests are thought to raise the general
level of education throughout the country by holding school districts,
teachers, and students accountable to a certain level of standards.
Obviously, assessment is a crucial part of educating students, but
there are serious problems when it is used to punish rather than
to help students.
Achievement tests are often used in making important
decisions about individual students. The results of these high stakes
tests are used in determining whether a student will be placed on
a slower or more advanced track in school, whether a student will
be promoted to the next grade level at the end of the academic year,
or whether a student will be allowed to graduate.
In 1997, in response to increased civic interest in
the quality of public schooling, President Clinton proposed the
idea of voluntary national tests in reading and math. Congress and
President Clinton asked the National Research Council’s Board
on Testing and Assessment to conduct studies on high stakes tests
to ensure that they are non-discriminatory.
In addition, the Office for Civil Rights of the Department
of Education has drafted testing guidelines in order to ensure that
tests measure students' knowledge or academic ability without regard
to their race, gender, national origin, or socio-economic background.
These guidelines serve as a resource of educational and legal principles
and as an information base for teachers, policymakers, and concerned
citizens. Tests must meet standards of validity and if they have
disproportionate racial impacts, the institutions must demonstrate
their educational necessity. It is our hope that these guidelines
will be used to ensure the fair use of tests. If you are interested
in obtaining a draft copy of Non-discrimination in High-Stakes Testing:
A Resource Guide, please call the Office for Civil Rights at (202)
205-5557.
Though the idea of testing enjoys fairly widespread
public support, high stakes testing has come under attack for its
disparate impact on minority and/or low-income students. Indeed,
minority and low-income students are over-represented in low-track
schools and programs. They are more likely than more affluent and/or
white students to repeat a grade or to fail to graduate.
In studies done of testing programs in Texas, Minnesota,
and New York, "minority students perform less well than their
majority peers in all cases." Testing is also shown to threaten
the possibility of graduation for African-American and Latino students
in Texas and Minnesota.
Social science researchers are interested in determining
the cause of the racial and socio-economic differences in test performance
and their consequences. However, determining the cause or causes
of this discrepancy is not easy. Researchers attempt to decide whether
a test accurately reflects a student’s ability, or whether
other factors – such as inadequate teaching or an insufficient
curriculum – are responsible for students’ performance.
The National Research Council has recently stated that, "group
differences in test performance do not necessarily indicate problems
in a test, because test scores may reflect real differences in achievement.
These may be due to a lack of access to a high-quality curriculum
and instruction. Thus, a finding of group differences calls for
a careful effort to determine their cause."
Most researchers conclude that there are a number
of factors involved in determining a student’s performance
on a high stakes test. However, academics do not always agree upon
the validity of high stakes testing to measure students' learning
or potential for future success or work. They also question the
impact of high stakes tests on the quality of public education in
this country.
Supporters of the use of high stakes testing claim
that these exams raise the level of education received by students
and increase the likelihood of their college attendance and early
labor market success. Some believe that minimum competency exams
which determine whether a student will be able to graduate will
help students get jobs by signaling to employers their qualification
for work.
However, a great deal of research on high stakes tests
has found significant drawbacks. A major report from the National
Academy of Sciences concludes that high stakes tests do not improve
the overall level of education in schools but instead often penalize
students – especially minority students – who have received
inadequate instruction.
The Civil Rights Project recently commissioned research
on the implications of high stakes testing. Following is a list
of major findings:
- If test results are related to important decisions and outcomes,
then teachers often begin to "teach to the test." A
National Science Foundation study in 1992 showed that teachers
with a high percentage of minority students were significantly
more likely to state that standardized tests affected their teaching
style. Thus, there arise serious differences in curricula between
classrooms with high and low percentages of minority students.
- High stakes tests do not necessarily make teachers and students
more motivated in the classroom. Psychological studies have shown
that motivation is highly complex and that people deal with it
differently. Those students who are not motivated by the tests
will begin to feel alienated by the tests and consequently, the
educational process.
High stakes testing is correlated with high drop out rates. Researchers
from the State University of New York found that nine of the ten
states with the highest drop out rates use high stakes testing,
while none of the ten states with the lowest drop out rates do.
Minority and low-income students are more likely than others to
attend schools that use high stakes tests.
- Dropout rates have risen in the past few years, especially for
African-American males. The costs for dropping out are high; those
that do not graduate have no chance for college and little chance
of finding a decent job. There is also an increased likelihood
that they will be imprisoned.
- A student's performance on a high stakes exam is significantly
tied to the level of their teacher’s experience. Minority
and low-income students tend to have teachers with the lowest
amounts of experience and are therefore likely to perform less
well on high stakes tests than their white counterparts –
and to be unfairly hurt by the test’s consequences.
- There is little evidence of a correlation between high test
scores and job success. The test score gap between black and white
males has narrowed by half since the mid-sixties, while the black-white
wage gap for males that narrowed primarily during the period of
civil rights enforcement has grown since that time.
- The use of high stakes testing results to make employment decisions
is likely to be ineffective as well as harmful to minorities.
- Test-based grade retention does little to improve learning.
In addition, it is expensive and may present class management
problems associated with having an older student in a classroom
with younger students.
- Grade retention disproportionately affects African-American
males who are the most likely ethnicity/gender group to be held
back. (By ages 15 to 17, close to 50 percent of African-American
males compared to about 30 percent of white females are below
the average grade for their age or have dropped out of school.)
If a school's use of testing hurts opportunities for
minority students, the testing might be successfully challenged
in court. With the exception of graduation testing, test scores
are generally combined with other factors, like grades, to make
educational decisions. Nonetheless, if a discriminatory test was
even one factor among many, and a clear disparate impact on minority
students is the end result, the educational decision may violate
Title VI civil rights laws. Remedies to the use of a biased test
may be as narrow as substituting in a less biased test, or as broad
as ending the use of tests altogether and requiring a different
educational program or scheme.
If there is proof that a biased test was used purposefully
to segregate students, the decision to use the test violates the
Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution. However,
for Constitutional challenges, intent to discriminate is difficult
to prove.
If you think you've been discriminated against on
the basis of race, national origin, gender or disability, you can
file a complaint with the Enforcement Office of the Office for Civil
Rights that serves your state. Contact the Office for Civil Rights
at (202) 205-5557 as a first step.
- High stakes decisions should not be made on the basis of test
scores alone – other factors must be considered. Be suspicious
of any major decision based upon the results of one test, which
is subject to the influence of many outside factors. This violates
a basic ethical principle of the testing profession.
- Flunking a student can often increase the likelihood that he/she
will drop out. Encourage school officials to take flunking seriously,
and to use other strategies when possible.
- Parents and community groups can take action by monitoring the
real dropout rate in their schools. Find out how many students
receive diplomas at the end of the school year and compare that
number to the number of students that entered the school four
years before. By insisting upon data from the schools every year,
parents and community members can keep track of graduation rates
and look for any discrepancies in the data.
- If you notice a dropout trend in your community, talk to your
local legislators and express your concern about potential problems
with the school curriculum or high stakes testing policy. You
can get the names and addresses of your legislation and city leaders
at your public library.
- Parents and community groups can organize together with researchers
at local universities, civil rights organizations, and teachers'
organizations. These coalitions can search out information on
school policies and data, and speak with state officials about
the implementation and effectiveness of tests in schools.
- Use the press to your advantage. Involve the local media when
discrepancies in dropout rates or test use are found so that the
wider community can learn about the issues involved.
- Testify before legislative committees and state boards of education
about proper and improper use of tests. Meet with minority caucuses
at the legislature.
- Do not be so discouraged by potential unfairness or bias in
testing that you simply attack testing. Tests can serve a useful
purpose in education by helping to improve the quality of learning
and to ensure equality of educational opportunity. We need measures
of student progress to identify those who need extra help. We
also have a responsibility to ensure that these measures are fair
and reliable, and used for educational progress.
You may also download "Testing:
The Need and Dangers" in PDF Format. 
Last updated 8/16/99
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