The Pedagogy of Standardized Testing

Based on a large-scale international study of teachers in Los Angeles, Chicago, Ontario, and New York, this book illustrates the ways increased use of high-stakes standardized testing is fundamentally changing education in the US and Canada with a negative overall impact on the way teachers teach and students learn. Standardized testing makes understanding students' strengths and weaknesses more difficult, and class time spent on testing consumes scarce time and attention needed to support the success of all students—further disadvantaging ELLs, students with exceptionalities, low income, and racially minoritized students.

"Arlo Kempf's The Pedagogy of Standardized Testing is a tour de force, performing a tremendous service to education scholars and practitioners alike. As opt-out movements led by parents, students, and teachers now gather momentum across both the United States and Canada, Kempf's book offers a handbook for resistance and change. The Pedagogy of Standardized Testing combines a detailed and informed review of the literature on standardized testing with strong empirical evidence. It includes rich and engaging anecdotes that not only bring the material to life but also help educators and policymakers see and understand the damage that test-oriented teaching and learning has wrought on schools. With this work, Kempf joins the ranks of leading education scholars and activists working to rescue our schools from the neoliberal reform juggernaut." - Joel Westheimer, University Research Chair in Democracy, University of Ottawa, Canada; Education columnist, CBC Radio "Arlo Kempf's The Pedagogy of Standardized Testing is a tour de force, performing a tremendous service to education scholars and practitioners alike. As opt-out movements led by parents, students, and teachers now gather momentum across both the United States and Canada, Kempf's book offers a handbook for resistance and change. The Pedagogy of Standardized Testing combines a detailed and informed review of the literature on standardized testing with strong empirical evidence. It includes rich and engaging anecdotes that not only bring the material to life but also help educators and policymakers see and understand the damage that test-oriented teaching and learning has wrought on schools. With this work, Kempf joins the ranks of leading education scholars and activists working to rescue our schools from the neoliberal reform juggernaut." - Joel Westheimer, University Research Chair in Democracy, University of Ottawa, Canada; Education columnist, CBC Radio

Arlo Kempf is Assistant Professor at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, Canada.