Teachers' attitudes toward testing practices.

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to investigate how teachers' attitudes toward testing practices affect the way teachers prepare and administer standardized tests. Classroom teachers (N = 186) from Georgia took the testing practices instrument developed to measure the three variables (behavior, attitude, and pressure) examined in this study. Attitudes were negatively correlated with behavior; teachers who felt that the testing practices were dishonest were less likely to engage in them. Pressure to increase standardized test scores was positively correlated with behavior; the greater the perceived pressure (subjective norms) to increase test scores, the greater the likelihood that teachers had engaged in more test preparation activities. The data also suggest that the amount of test preparation was greater in the lower grades than in the upper grades and that teachers in schools with more low-socioeconomic-status (SES) students tended to engage in more test preparation activities than their colleagues in higher SES schools.