Abstract
Students subjected to education by rote memorization or test-focused teaching are discouraged from knowing when and how to use their epistemic virtues in school. This has encouraged increased testing in math and reading, the areas emphasized by the act, increased teaching to the test, and decreased focus on subjects not emphasized by the act. In some cases, teachers faced with high-stakes testing have even given students test answers, changed student answer forms, or otherwise improperly influenced test results. So, teaching to the test is bad if authors want to use standardized tests to assess student achievement. As Joan Herman puts it, the time focused on test content has narrowed the curriculum by overemphasizing basic-skill subjects and neglecting higher-order thinking skills.