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Standardized tests are not fair
The truth about standardized tests
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Standardized tests. We’ve all heard of them. Most of us have taken them, and hopefully passed them. But how many of us really know what they are. In other words, what exactly is a “standardized test”? If you ask a hundred teachers or other members of the educational community, you might get 50 different answers. The truth is, according to a well-respected glossary of educational terms, the definition of a standardized test is “any form of test that (1) requires all test takers to answer the same questions, or a selection of questions, from (a) common bank (of) questions, in the same way, and that (2) is scored in a ‘standard’ or consistent manner, which makes it possible to compare the relative performance of individual students or groups of students.” (QTD Great Schools Partnership). The questions are usually multiple choice in nature and they are graded the exact same way. This makes it possible to compare data from person to person and year to year.
Standardized tests can trace their beginning to just over a hundred years ago, in 1905, when a French psychologist by the name of Alfred Binet was conducting studies of human intelligence. In order to further his studies, Mr. Binet developed the first standardized test to determine the relative levels of intelligence in his test subjects. A version of the test that he used was then developed to create the current IQ test that is often given to determine a person’s intelligence. (Dan Fletcher)
Once standardized tests became more popular, institutions of higher learning realized that they could be used to compare students from various backgrounds and geographic locations. And thus, standardized college entrance tests began in 1926. The first one to be developed was called the Schol...
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...on that one hour, a teacher’s effectiveness is based upon that same hour. There are no considerations for the mood of the student, or how seriously each student approaches the test. Each teacher is eventually evaluated on the overall scores of the class.
Standardized tests are designed to show you and the teachers where you are as far as learning skills go. They have pros and cons, but in the end, they are just there to help the education system. And they determine how far in life you will go. Meaning, you have to take standardized tests to get into some universities and one of the requirements to graduate high school is to pass the standardized tests. So, no matter how much parents, students, or even teachers think the standardized tests are unfair, they are only there to help us and we need them in order to make sure we are getting the education that we deserve.
Standardized testing requires student to answer same or similar questions with given answer choices that are often in multiple choice or true or false form. Dating back from 2200 B.C standardized testing is recorded being used in China ,where people applying for government jobs had to take an examination ,testing their knowledge on confucian philosophy and poetry.During the mid-1800s in Industrial Revolution ,soon after child labor laws were enacted taking children out of farms and factories and putting them into schools the use of standardized test was introduced to America in Boston. Standardized testing was being used to compare schools and teaching quality; Boston’s program was soon adopted nation wide. Types of standardized test including the most common achievement tests and aptitude test. Achievement test measure the progress a student has made academically in a time period. Whereas an aptitude test attempt to predict a student’s ability to succeed academically.Standardized test are used on a large scale because computers can score them quickly, consistently, and inexpensively rather than open ended essay questions which need to be evaluated essay by essay, though essay questions allow for deeper thinking.The purpose for standardized testing is to create a standard on which all students can learn equally,but in “The Real threat to American Schools” by Alfie Kohn, the author claims that idea of standards might not be true. The author makes an interesting point in that if the possibility that all students met the state standards and passed all the tests would those students be considered ‘perfectly educated’ of would the politicians and test takers believe instead that the test was too easy and the standards were too low. B...
It was from Britain that standardized testing originated, not only throughout the commons of Britain, but to Europe and then America. A big contributing factor to the growth of standardized testing in the United States was immigration. Standardized tests were used in immigration when people first came over to test social roles and find social power and status. EOI tests have the same purpose as competency tests. It assesses a student’s abilities and knowledge of objectives and concepts (FACTS End-Of-Instruction).
Although there have been legitimate arguments supporting the benefits of standardized testing, such as their ability to successfully measure students’ proficiency, in recent years there have been concerns and disadvantages regarding how their misuse poses a serious threat to the American education system. Despite the belief that standardized tests should be used to measure students’ proficiency, there are more reasons outweighing this statement regarding why they shouldn’t be used for this purpose. Not only is this a particular issue with standardized testing, but the tests are becoming more high stakes and are being used unfairly to determine things such as graduation, or placement in a school, resulting in a significant amount of stress and anxiety in students. Testing corporations are also profiting from the design of these standardized tests, while standardized testing is also forcing teachers to all teach the same thing, leading to a lack of creativity in the students. Aside from these arguments, standardized tests have been found to be becoming flawed and have poor design.
Standardized tests have been around for many years. During the 1920’s the SAT was known as the Scholastic Aptitude Test (Syverson 56). According to Steven Syverson, in 1993 the test was renamed as Scholastic Assessment Tests in an effort to reflect the changing nature of the test (56). Jonathan Epstein notes that by 1994, the acronym was removed completely, keeping only the initials SAT (9). The United States Department of Education reports that the Scholastic Assessment Test [known as SAT] measures your ability rather than knowledge and is composed of three sections: writing, critical reading, and math (3). “The American College Testing Program [known as ACT] measures how you think and what you’ve learned in school, it consist of four multiple-choice
Standardized tests are very common throughout the United States. They are used to measure students’ academic performances in school. These tests vary from state to state in all grade levels. However, these tests are believed to be biased towards those students who come from higher-class neighborhoods, simply because they have more educational resources. “The absence of standards virtually guarantees stratified resources and access to knowledge, based upon income, color of skin, and the community and neighborhood in which one lives” (French, 2003). The resources in the suburban areas differ from those in the urban areas, because of the gap within the difference of incomes. Families living in suburban neighborhoods have a bigger income, which enables them to have more resources than those living in urban neighborhoods. Most educational resources come from taxes, which plays a big part in the gap between urban and suburban neighborhoods.
Standardized testing caters to one population of people and one style of learning. These tests are supposed to measure if you are on your grade level but can be extremely ineffective. I remember taking the SAT and them asking questions that I did not know how to solve and it was so long that it made me not want to take it. This creates a problem for students because they figure why take a test I know I am going to fail and that take hours to take. The success rate for that is very low. These tests cater to people that a tolerant enough to sit down for hour and comprehend the work in one particular way but everyone is not tolerant enough for it. Just like one of my old professor said everyone learns and comprehends and has tolerance for a lot of things but taking a test that is four hours long with work that you can’t comprehend because you don’t have enough time to think in that particular section is not fair to every stud...
Throughout my educational career, I remember taking standardized exams since I was in second grade. My experience with the standardized test was never a pleasant one. At a certain point, I thought that it would hinder me from going on to the next grade, graduating high school and going to a college of my choice. I always felt that standardized test did not measure my actual intelligence and was frustrated with the concept that comparing students to others, by giving all students a basic multiple choice test, is enough to measure how well each child would do throughout the school. After I had started understanding the ranking system, I started doubting my ability to keep up with my peers, not just in my school but the state. The first exam that
The reasons why we have standardized testing today is because of many reasons. The States use it to compare abilities and skills of a student. We also give 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.
One of the biggest topics in the educational world is standardized tests. All fifty states have their own standards following the common core curriculum. There are many positives and negatives that go with the standardized tests. A standardized test is any type of “examination that's administered and scored in a predetermined, standard manner” (Popham, 1999). These standardized tests are either aptitude tests or achievement tests. Schools use achievement tests to compare students.
Standardized test was made for placing US army recruits into military roles. Later they created it to judge the overall intelligence of students applying to college. After 2002’s, No Child Left Behind Act or NCLB was created and made testing mandated in all 50 states. In the 2000s, US was 18th in the world for math scores but slipped to 31st place in 2009. It also declined in science scores but no change in the reading scores.
Standardized testing remains to be a major controversial issue for the American society today. Exams are given to students at different levels in their educational career and are supposed to measure their academic knowledge, but are these tests really the best way to evaluate students? There have been numerous alternatives suggested to replace or be used in conjunction with standardized testing.
They brought standardized testing into the school system in 1950s. Standardized tests are large-scale tests that are administered to students and scored in the same manner. Students take the same test in the same conditions and, if possible, at the same time so that results can be attributed to student performance and not to differences in the test or the way it is given. Because of this, the results of standardized tests can be compared across schools and districts. Take one at the beginning of the year for they can be assigned to a class.
Standardized testing in the United States was not always common practice. In the Mid-1800s, Horace Mann, an education reformist, developed a test to administer to a group of students. Its purpose was to determine how students were performing at their current level and whether they were capable of proceeding to a higher level of education, although the student’s success on the test had no negative repercussions. These tests were a necessity at that time because the idea of public education was still being molded and these tests were the only means by which student progress could be measured. Within 35 years of the first recorded examination in 1845, testing became the factor which determined whether students were able to be promoted to the next grade.
It can be stressful and a lot to handle. They should not be expected to know all of the material for their classes and for the tests. Standardized testing also has a negative effect on teachers. It adds unnecessary pressure and fear of judgement based on student performance. Because of this stress and pressure, students feel the need to compete with each other. This can have detrimental effects on their future. When looking at the negatives of standardized testing, it is easy to see that too much of it is more harmful than