High-Stakes Testing: The Background Behind Testing-Based Educational Reforms and Implications for Practice by Speech-Language Pathologists

47 1092-5171/03/3001-0047 ABSTRACT: Some current educational reforms (U.S. Department of Education, 2002) focus on preparing students for mandated testing. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 1997) requires education agencies to provide students with disabilities with the opportunity to participate in testing. Speech-language pathologists face the challenge of helping students with language and learning disabilities and associated cognitive differences prepare for test requirements. The purpose of this article is to provide background information on mandated testing, including (a) differences between testing students’ minimum competency versus curriculum mastery, (b) differences between normreferenced and criterion-referenced tests, (c) potential limitations of basing accountability decisions on the results of testing that is administered once, (d) implications of revising curriculum to reflect material to be tested, and (d) testing concerns for students from underserved populations or with learning challenges. Approaches for involving speech-language pathologists in curriculum-based speech-language interventions that prepare students for testing are proposed.