External assessment as stereotyping: Experiences of racialized Grade 3 children, parents and educators with standardized testing in elementary schools

A Case Study of Teacher Candidates’ Experiences: Writing the Pilot Math Proficiency Test in Ontario, Canada

“…Although results from EQAO standardized tests have provided some useful data for schools since their implementation beginning in 1996, the gaps have not drastically minimized between different social groups in Ontario, and in many cases those gaps have further intensified and widened particularly for Black, Indigenous, racialized students, and those from lower socio-economic backgrounds (Colour of Poverty, 2019;Eizadirad 2019Eizadirad , 2020Fesseha et al, 2020;Hargreaves, 2020;Harris et al, 2011;. These inequities have further intensified by circumstances created by COVID-19 (Royal Society of Canada, 2021;Toronto Foundation, 2021).…”

“…Many studies have examined EQAO standardized testing and its impact on different identities and social groups (Campbell et al, 2018;Eizadirad, 2019Eizadirad, , 2020Fesseha et al, 2020;Hargreaves, 2020;Pinto, 2016;Wickstrom et al, 2020). Educational reforms in various countries over the past 30 years, including the well-known No Child Left Behind initiative in the United States, aim to ostensibly increase accountability through standardized curriculum and testing.…”

“…Standardized assessments within these movements can be largely criticized for perpetuating educational gaps instead of addressing systemic barriers and conditions that have led to gaps in education amongst different social groups (Abawi & Eizadirad, 2020;Au, 2016;Colour of Poverty, 2019;Royal Society of Canada, 2021;Toronto Foundation, 2021). This is not say that standardized testing in some cases has not led to school or student improvements, but on a larger systemic level, it has failed to mitigate achievements gap trends across social groups (Au, 2009;Curtis et al, 2010;Eizadirad, 2020;Eizadirad & Sider, 2020;Kohn, 2000;Nagy, 2000;Royal Society of Canada, 2021;Toronto Foundation, 2021). With the introduction of the MPT, what has been missing in the scholarly literature, particularly in the context of Ontario, Canada is the examination standardized assessments for teacher certification purposes and the extent of its effectiveness (Nagy, 2000).…”

Climbing Back into a Canoe in Deep Water

“…As teachers, we know that standardized tests often favour those children raised in the dominant culture, those who speak the dominant language, and those whose beliefs align with dominant mores (Eizadirad, 2020). Those at the margins of the dominant social paradigm often do not do as well in such so-called "impartial" assessments (Au, 2016).…”