National Study Reveals How Teachers and Parents Feel About End-Of-Year Testing

SALT LAKE CITY, June 25, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Instructure (NYSE:INST), a leading software-as-a-service (SaaS) technology company and creator of the Canvas learning management system (LMS) and the Gauge assessment management system (AMS), today announced the results of its survey about end-of-year testing. The findings reveal parents view these assessments as only moderately effective. The data also show end-of-year tests influence how teachers teach.

"End-of-year tests play a huge role in how teachers spend class time, especially as they wrap up the school year," said Hilary Scharton, vice president of K–12 product strategy at Instructure. "When it comes to assessments, it's important to remember that they can be built for different purposes, so we should ensure we're not making high-stakes decisions about students based on a single test."

Instructure surveyed 333 K–12 public school teachers and 700 parents about their thoughts on the effectiveness of end-of-year tests. This research reveals insights into parents' and teachers' perceptions while also demonstrating how end-of-year testing affects schools, teachers and curricula.

Parent Perspective
According to the survey, parents don't have a lot of faith in the effectiveness of end-of-year tests:

• Sixty-six percent of parents reported that end-of-year testing is only slightly effective to not effective at all in assessing how much their child has learned and how prepared they are to move on to the next grade.
• What's more, 41 percent of parents believe that opting out of end-of-year testing will encourage states to change how students are assessed.

Parents also report that they are unlikely to take additional action because of end-of-year test scores:

• Thirty-five percent reported that they wouldn't take any action.
• Only 7 percent of parents indicated they would volunteer more at the school as a result of end-of-year test scores.

Parents are also hesitant to take additional action outside of the school:

• Only 15 percent of parents indicated they would hire a tutor based on their child's test scores.
• Five percent of parents considered school district end-of-year test scores when buying a home.

Teacher Take
According to the survey, teachers acknowledge spending class time focused on preparing students for end-of-year tests:

• They spend an average of 42 percent of their time preparing for and administering end-of-year tests.

Teachers are also feeling pressure to have students perform well on tests:

• Almost 70 percent at least somewhat agreed they teach to the test to increase scores on end-of-year tests.
• Sixty-two percent of teachers said that end-of-year tests are only moderately effective to not effective at all.
• Only 25 percent of teachers agreed or strongly agreed that curriculum is changed from year-to-year as a result of end-of-year test results, and 24 percent agree or strongly agree that administrators receive a reward or penalization based on end-of-year test results.

Methodology
In April 2018, Instructure used online survey provider Qualtrics to survey 333 K–12 public school teachers and 700 parents regarding their thoughts on the effectiveness of end-of-year tests. 

About Instructure:                             
Instructure, Inc. is a leading software-as-a-service (SaaS) technology company that makes software that makes people smarter. With a vision to help maximize the potential of people through technology, Instructure created Canvas, Arc, Gauge and Bridge to enable organizations everywhere to easily develop, deliver, and manage engaging face-to-face and online learning experiences. To date, Instructure has connected millions of instructors and learners at more than 3,000 educational institutions and corporations throughout the world. Learn more about Canvas for higher ed and K–12, and Bridge for the corporate market, at www.Instructure.com.

About Canvas:
Through open, usable, cloud-based technologies, Canvas enables easy integration of the content, tools and services that teachers need and students want. As the most usable, customizable, adaptable and reliable learning platform (think 99.9% uptime), Canvas is adopted faster and deeper (or, is used in more ways by more users) than any other LMS. So, in the end, investing in 21st-century education technology actually makes teaching and learning easier (like it's supposed to). Learn more about Canvas at www.CanvasLMS.com.

Contacts:
Becky Frost
Sr. Director, Corporate Communications
Instructure
(801) 869-5017
[email protected]

Ann Noder
Pitch Public Relations
(480)263-1557
[email protected]

SOURCE Canvas

Related Links

https://www.canvaslms.com