ARTICLE
TITLE

High-stakes testing and English teachers' role as materials developers: Insights from vocational high schools

SUMMARY

The implementation of the National Examination (NE) in Indonesia in elementary to high schools is considered as high-stakes testing and affects the teachers’ practice particularly in vocational settings. As material developers, English teachers in Vocational High Schools (VHS) are demanded to develop appropriate and suitable materials to meet the students’ specific needs. The incompatibility of the NE materials prescribed by the government and the vocational students’ needs put the teachers in a dilemma. The teachers should deal with the pressure of the NE and their roles as materials developers. This article tries to reveal how high-stakes testing impacts their roles as material developers particularly in the absence of specifically prescribed materials for VHS students. A case study design was used in this research with 31 participants of English teachers from nine state VHS in Pontianak, Indonesia. Data were collected through questionnaires and interviews. The result revealed that the role of teachers as materials developers somehow becomes diminishing because of the presence of the NE as high-stakes testing in the learning process, especially in VHS. This condition is detrimental to the teachers’ professional development since their roles as materials developers are limited and even under-developed. With the cancellation of NE by the end of this year, it is expected that the teachers are able to play their roles as materials developers and conduct evaluations based on the students’ specific expertise.

 Articles related

Janna Fox, Liying Cheng    

In keeping with the trend to elicit multiple stakeholder responses to operational tests as part of test validation, this exploratory mixed methods study examines test-taker accounts of an Internet-based (i.e., computer-administered) test in the high-stak... see more


Kadriye Dilek Akpinar,Bekir Cakildere    

Washback, the impact of tests on education in general and language testing in particular, has become a popular area of study within educational research. This paper focuses on the washback effects of two high-stakes Foreign Language Tests (KPDS and UDS) ... see more


Jennifer Holm, Ann Kajander    

The research reported here is part of a larger study and examines the cases of two individuals who were initially unable to achieve the required 60% passing grade on a Mathematics for Teaching Exam at the end of their first enrolment in an intermediate-l... see more


Kimberly Mary Levere,Matthew Demers    

The assessment of student preparedness for entry-level university calculus has been of interest in recent years.  Many institutions have adopted diagnostic tests as a means to assess foundational skills.  We introduce a new testing-style, the W... see more


Richard Walker, Zoe Handley    

The issues influencing student engagement with high-stakes computer-based exams were investigated, drawing on feedback from two cohorts of international MA Education students encountering this assessment method for the first time. Qualitative data from s... see more