Research Paper on:
An Inquiry into Standardized Testing: A Research Proposal

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
want to make sure that their students do well on these tests. In essence, what ends up happening is that the teachers teach to the test. That is, they "drill  kids over and over in the skills measured by the test while cutting back on everything else" (Seligman, 1999, p. 74). And while that seems to be the case, it  is not necessarily so. How might one discern whether or not curriculums really do change due to test requirements? How might one research this topic? In researching this particular subject,  the only plausible methodology to employ is to study the problem as a state problem. State data is available in terms of the testing and curricula. By looking at states  that for example do not have standardized tests as compared with those that do, one can see how well for example those same student perform on the SATs. Because ordinary  classes do not consider the SAT as a primary objective--as that is not the measurement on which the system is judged--it becomes a good method of examining how well prepared  the students are in more general terms. Final grades and statistics on how many go on to college are other things to examine. Looking at raw data in respect to  how well students perform is important, as is interviewing teachers from the states that do have standardized testing. Teachers should be interviewed from a variety of states and schools in  order to discern a fair representation of how the curriculum is designed in respect to standardized tests. For example, one may ask a teacher how they feel about standardized tests.  A teacher may say something along the lines of the following: "I do not like the tests because it not only changes the curriculum, it does not allow for altering