Student Attitude and Motivation Regarding Testing at Hermantown High School

Abstract

School districts all over the country use some sort of, if not several, standardized type tests to evaluate either the performance of its students, the district, its teachers, or all three. Sometimes these tests are state mandated, and others are administered by private companies by the commissioning of the school district. The Hermantown School District, located in Minnesota, uses several of these tests for a variety of reasons. After the district failed to make AYP for the last two years, the administration made a move to examine the cause of such a failure. The first step in the process of this evaluation is to attempt to identify the general attitude and motivation held by students in regards to these types of tests. This study looks to identify possible patterns in attitude held by Hermantown students in regards to these tests and to identify the steps the District can take to improve the AYP.