AUTHOR Herman, Joan; And Others TITLE The Effects of Testing on Teaching and Learning.

A study was conducted to determine the effects of testing on teaching and learning, focusing on standardized norm-referenced tests. A questionnaire was administered to 85 kindergarten through grade 12 teachers from a large urban school district who were attending a teacher leadership workshop. Fifty-five respondents were from elementary schools, and 30 were from secondary schools. The 131-item questionnaire obtained data on the following parameters: (1) teacher and student backgrounds and the school context; (2) test-taking strategies and test preparation; (3) testing's impact on instructional objectives, content taught, staff professionalism, and interference with sound instructional practices; and (4) teachers ' attitudes toward testing. Results suggest that there is significant pressure on teachers to improve test scores and that significant teacher attention and instructional time is devote