A high-stakes test is a test with important consequences for the test taker: passing can bring benefits such as a high school diploma, a scholarship or a license to practice a profession, while failing can bring disadvantages such as being required to take remedial classes until the test is passed, losing the ability to drive a car, or difficulty finding employment. The use, and the misuse, of high-stakes tests is a controversial topic in public education, especially in the United States and the United Kingdom, where such tests have grown especially popular in recent years, used not only to assess school-age students but also in attempts to increase teacher accountability.
Facts
Core ClaimWhat makes a test high-stakes is not any property of the test instrument itself but the real consequences the institution attaches to its outcome; the identical test format can be high-stakes or low-stakes depending only on what is riding on the result. 1 Sources
1. Wikipedia: High-stakes testing
Wikimedia FoundationThe stakes section, first sentenceQuote, The stakes section, first sentence
High stakes are not a characteristic of the test itself, but rather of the consequences placed on the outcome.
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