The Controversy of Standardized Testing

The Controversy of Standardized Testing

“No issue in the U.S. Education is more controversial than (standardized) testing. Some people view it as the linchpin of serious reform and improvement, others as a menace to quality teaching and learning” (Phelps). A tool that educators use to learn about students and their learning capabilities is the standardized test. Standardized tests are designed to give a common measure of a student’s performance. Popular tests include the SAT, IQ tests, Regents Exams, and the ACT. “Three kinds of standardized tests are used frequently in schools: achievement, diagnostic, and aptitude” (Woolfolk 550). Achievement tests can be used to help a teacher assess a student’s strengths and weaknesses in a particular subject. Diagnostic tests are typically given to elementary school students when learning problems are suspected. Aptitude tests are designed to predict how a student will perform in the future. For example, the SAT predicts performance in the first year of college. Standardized tests give educators a standard measure or “yardstick” because such a large number of students across the country take the same test. These tests are used to tell how well school programs are doing or to give a picture of the skills and abilities of students. Standardized tests; however, are problematic at all ages and levels of schooling.

Standardized aptitude tests measure students’ abilities to learn in school, how well they are likely to succeed in future education. Rather than measuring knowledge of subjects taught in school, these tests measure a broad range of abilities or skills that are considered important to succeed in school. The classroom setting and teacher are the key to assessment. “Pressure to produce higher scores leads teachers to focus on material that will be covered by the tests and to exclude everything else. The curriculum is thereby narrowed, which means that some subjects are ignored. Within those that are taught, lower order thinking skills are emphasized. As a result, test scores get inflated while real learning suffers” (Phelps). Performance based assessment guarantees an increased understanding of the growth of individual child. Such understanding reduces the need for currently used standardized tests.

Standards for Education and Psychological Testing (American Psychological Association) states the ...

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... tests are counterproductive. Meaning that instead of leading to stronger academic achievement, it is said to interfere with teaching and learning. Teachers should use test results to improve their instruction, not to justify lower expectations or to stereotype students.

Bibliography:

Works Cited

American Psychological Association. Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association, 1985

Goodwin, W.L., and Driscoll, L.A. Handbook for Measurement and Evaluation in Education. San Fransisco: Jossey-Bass, 1980

Phelps, R.P. “Why Testing Experts Hate Testing.” Fordham Report, Jan. 1999: Available online: http://www.ed.excellence.net/library/phelps.htm

Sacks, P. Standardized Minds: The High Price of America’s Testing Culture and What we Can do to Change it. Cambridge, Mass.: Perseus Books, Feb. 2000: Available online: http://www.fairtest.org.k12/psacks.html

Wiseman, D.L., Cooner, D.D., and Knight, S.L. Becoming a Teacher in a Field-Based Setting: an Introduction to Education and Classrooms. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1999

Woolfolk, A. Educational Psychology. Needham