CHAPTER 7: “This is the Way it is”: The Experiences of Preservice Middle School Teachers Integrating Instruction With High Stakes Test Preparation

Teachers and parents of young adolescents are well aware that students in Grades 4-8 disproportionally bear the brunt of educational accountability (Anderson, 2009; Lipka, 2004). Young adolescents are among the most tested group of students in our nation’s schools (Anderson, 2009), and middle school teachers often report the demand for accountability influences how and what they teach (Faulkner & Cook, 2006). While Anderson (2009) and Faulkner and Cook (2006) explored the encroachment of high stakes testing on teaching in middle school, less is known about the experiences of preservice middle school teachers and how they manage instruction within a high stakes testing environment. This chapter presents the narratives of three student teachers who are learning to teach at a time when standardized test scores are highly valued, often at the expense of student learning (Erb, 2003; Popham, 2008). These preservice teachers want to leave students with experiences that inspire and motivate, but their stories, told here, reveal the often complex and contradictory challenges of the teaching profession. The experiences are, in part, a story of No Child Left Behind (2002) and the explicit pressures of accountability. The narratives also provide affirmation for the reasons why middle schools were first established and offer support for why middle grades teachers need to be specially prepared to support young adolescents’ learning and development.