Public School Teachers\u27 Experiences with High-Stakes Testing: A Transcendental Phenomenological Study

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to examine how public school elementary teachers perceive high-stakes testing situations as it relates to the impact of test anxiety on young children. Bandura’s (1997) social cognitive theory guided this study as it sought to explain the role of human self-belief in cognition, motivation, and behavior. Eleven teachers who are elementary teachers within a North Carolina public school system, have been teaching at least three years, and have administered high-stakes testing over the course of their teaching careers shared their lived experiences of high-stakes testing through their answers to the following: How do teachers describe their students’ experiences with high-stakes testing? Purposeful sampling was used in identifying and selecting participants who had experience with high-stakes testing situations as it relates to the impact of test anxiety on young children. Data were collected via individual interviews, a focus group, and open-ended essay questions, and analyzed in keeping with Moustakas’ (1994) phenomenological procedures. The findings indicated that though accountability measures are needed to assess student achievement, teachers felt that too much emphasis has been placed on the current models that are being used. Alternative measures should be implemented to track student achievement over the course of the academic year