Date of Award

Summer 8-22-2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Educational Studies

First Advisor

Dr. Gail Cahill

Second Advisor

Dr. Valerie Shinas

Third Advisor

Dr. Wayne Au

Abstract

This study strives to understand teacher perceptions as a meaningful examination of state-mandated standardized testing's impacts on students and its outcomes by asking:

How do teachers experience the impact of state-mandated standardized tests on the students as evidenced in their stories?

What are the benefits and disadvantages to the use of state-mandated standardized tests?

To what extent has state-mandated standardized tests created inequalities in the educational system?

This study utilized a Narrative Research approach with [descriptive] interpretive qualitative research. Questionnaires and interviews were analyzed using the Thematic Inductive Analysis approach. The theoretical framework was adopted from Robinson & Robinson: centering educating students around four core purposes of personal, cultural, economic, and social. Three themes were identified and informed the five findings in this study. The first finding states that teachers’ experiences of the impact of state-mandated standardized tests on students were overwhelmingly negative. The second finding found seven benefits and nine disadvantages in using state-mandated standardized tests. The third finding shows that there are inequalities created by state-mandated standardized tests in the educational system. These include: 1) Students in Special Education or English Language Learners; 2) Teachers; and 3) Technology. The fourth finding informed that states in the United States have different policies regarding the strictness of state-mandated standardized testing yet did not result in different stories from the participants across the states. The final finding informed that the teachers’ experiences within this study are all student-centered. These findings all demonstrate that there is a need for changes in state-mandated standardized testing that puts the student as the forefront.

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