STANDARDS-BASED ASSESSMENT PAPER

Standards-Based Assessment Paper

Abstract

Today's standards movement is not simply a repetition of its past heritage. Indeed, every reappearance of the efficiency tradition in education is unique to its times. In particular, the contemporary movement differs from the past by closely coupling standards with high-stakes testing, new state accountability schemes, and federal mandates. States that receive federal dollars for education are now required to set standards, test students to determine what percentage of students meet the standards, and then use the results to rank individual schools (Eisner, 2009). This interlocking of standards and testing has become far more formalized than it was in past accountability systems. Whereas the reforms of the previous century urged efficiency through a variety of means, today's reforms demand it through mandates alone. As a result, the role of assessment has changed. Prior to the standards movement, assessment measures usually followed the aims and content of the curriculum, thereby providing teachers with information about what their students learned. Now that relationship is reversed; instruction follows assessment. With rewards and sanctions tied directly to test results, many teachers believe they have no choice but to teach to the tests.

Standards-Based Assessment

Health education is at a crossroad. Educational reform, the development of standards, and performance-based assessment may be leading health education toward redefinition All of these activities will shape what it is that students should be able to know and do. Health Education standards and the assessment process should also serve to create a framework to help schools develop instructional programs. These programs will enable students to acquire knowledge and skills which promote individual health and contribute to the improvement of the nation's health status. What follows is a discussion of some issues facing health education.

Eisner (2009) mentions traditionally, health education has been organized around health content areas. The emphasis has been largely placed on knowledge associated with the health education "basics" not on the advanced concepts of skills acquisition and behavior change. States and local education agencies will be able to use the YRBS data, the risk behaviors identified by CDC/DASH and assessment outcomes to develop curricula that will serve the youth of their communities. This approach will allow the local agencies to maintain flexibility and control over curricular issues. It will also ensure that the National Health Education Standards continue to provide impetus for the state and local agencies to move toward a more skills-based approach to health education.

Not to be overlooked is the impact standards-based assessment will have on what and how health education is taught. The Association for the Advancement of Health Education plans on assisting with this reform by offering regional staff development workshops to inform professionals and administrators about the Standards (Eisner, 2009).

Another issue will be the design and use of health education materials. Most health textbooks currently focus on knowledge, not behavior and skills. These texts will need revising to align with the reform movement and the assessment process. Teachers can expect to see a shift from textbooks organized around content areas and ...