Author: Kelly Gard Major: Childhood Education
Hello! My name is Kelly Gard and I am a senior in the Childhood Education program within the College of Education and Health Professions! I also have a minor in Human Development and Family Science. I am originally from Blue Springs, Missouri. It has been an honor (no pun intended) to be a part of the University of Arkansas’s Honors College. I have always felt close to the Honors College as I lived in Hotz Hall, the Honors College dorm, my freshman year. The supportive, encouraging, and hard-working community that I was constantly surrounded by set the tone for my academic career the past four years. I have been challenged and have learned how to be successful during difficult times. I have grown into a scholar who strives to learn something new every day and who strives to always do my best work. Having the privilege to work on an Honors Thesis has been a journey I will never forget.
During the spring semester of 2020, I performed research in the education department under my advisor, Dr. Marcia Imbeau. My committee members, Dr. Denise Mounts and Dr. Owen, were huge supporters as well. My goal for my research was to answer this question: What are 4th and 6th grade students’ attitudes toward standardized testing? Specifically, I designed my project to determine public school students’ attitudes towards standardized testing. I set-up a study to survey 4th and 6th grade public school students from the same school district regarding their attitudes towards standardized testing. I was hoping to analyze data by comparing responses of students from different grade levels, as well as other demographic information (socio-economic levels, gender, home language, ethnicity, etc.). Understanding students’ attitudes regarding testing can be useful to schools and districts in addressing concerns students may have and to determine if different groups of students are more at risk than others.
Unfortunately, when COVID-19 hit, I was unable to conduct research at the schools and decided to take a different approach to my thesis. I decided to write a literature review diving deeper into my topic. For my literature review, I wanted to focus on students’ view of standardized testing and how they can be given a voice to share those views in school. My advisor played a big role in this transition and helped me navigate through all of the changes. Through my research, I found that many students experience high anxiety and stress during standardized testing and often report negative feelings during testing. This can be caused by testing bias, differential validity of test scores for groups (e.g., age, education, culture, race, gender) and/or understanding the pressure of standardized tests and their implications (course placements, school sanctions or rewards, and educational policy). Through my research, I also found that giving students a voice can potentially create the positive changes in education that combat this issue. When students are stakeholders of their own learning, they can encourage change to programs and policies that can be more effective at meeting schools’ own goals for supporting students.
Through the Honors College Research Grant, I have been able to complete my research. The Honors College Research Grant helped me with was printing the necessary materials I needed for consent documentations, letters to parents, letters to students, letters to administrators, and survey links. This expense was fully funded from my Honors College Research Grant.
After I graduate in May, I will continue at the University of Arkansas during the 2020-2021 school year to pursue a Master of Arts in Teaching with an endorsement in English as a Second Language and will continue to research on this topic! I am so passionate about allowing all students to have equal opportunities in the classroom and believe all students can excel. I am so grateful that I was able to conduct this research and to receive the Honors College Research Grant.