Testing and Educational Equity

Catalog description

This course considers testing, the reasons that policymakers have widely adopted testing, and implications of testing for educational equity. EDTHP 527 Testing and Educational Equity (3) Results from standardized testing reveal that there are large disparities in test scores that parallel racial and ethnic lines in the U.S. For almost two decades, American policymakers have embraced increased testing in K-12 education as a means of reducing these disparities.The objectives of this course are to help you to understand why testing policies have proliferated, to explore how such policies might or might not affect academic achievement, and to think critically with regard to the policies' impact on students from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds.In essence, the course's central question is this: In what ways might testing policies ameliorate or increase disparities across racial and ethnic groups?