Backtalk: The harm in assessment-backward practices

Abstract

The deprofessionalization and mechanization of teaching that comes from teaching to the test and scripted instruction is prevalent in the United States. Teachers now enter their careers in schooling contexts where they are often expected to apply scripted curriculums with high fidelity, sometimes at odds with the pedagogy and methods they learned in teacher education programs. Amanda S. Frasier argues that the shift to assessment-backward design and the focus on controlling actions and micromanaging behavior of teachers is harming the profession and public education.