ABSTRACT
Although the term washback is not widely used in the United States, the concept is clearly understood. As far back as the 1980s, researchers identified many undesirable consequences of testing on curriculum and instruction. These effects included “narrowing” of the curriculum, changes in course objectives, and revisions in the sequence of the curriculum (Corbett & Wilson, 1988; Darling-Hammond & Wise, 1985; Herman & Golan, n.d.; Shepard & Dougherty, 1991). Moreover, the greater the consequences, the more likely such changes occurred (Corbett & Wilson, 1991). Recent growth in highstakes testing has led to renewed concern about the influence of tests on school practices. The authors have been involved in a number of studies that have tried to quantify the degree to which practice has changed as a result of the introduction of test-based reform efforts at the state level (Koretz, Barron, Mitchell, & Stecher, 1996; Koretz, Stecher, Klein, & McCaffrey, 1994; Stecher & Barron, 1999; Stecher, Barron, Chun, Krop, & Ross, 2000; Stecher, Barron, Kaganoff, & Goodwin, 1998). The present work, which was conducted under the auspices of the National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards and Student Testing (CRESST), continues this investigation.
