Abstract This paper addresses academic assessment and academic achievement according to the results of standardizedtesting. It is the argument presented in this paper that standardizedtesting is not a viable measure of estimating a young child's skills and that essay writing would be a better measure of assessing learning.
Tags: EDUCATION / CURRICULUM THEORY AND ISSUES, standardizedtesting students
Abstract This paper summarizes the main ideas or themes in the article "School-Based StandardTesting" by Craig Bollon. It explains the advantages and disadvantages one may gain or encounter in using these practices.
Abstract This paper takes a look at the validity of using standardizedtests to evaluate students' academic success. The author defines and gives examples of standardizedtests and agrees that though there are advantages utilizing the standardizedtesting system such as the comparison of students' results for use in analyzing the quality of learning, the standardization of curriculum diminishes the volume and standard of education imparted to students. The paper further explains that standardtesting results in students memorizing rather than learning, and in other cases, can lead to inequalities in the society where pupils who get less marks in standardizedtests feel singled out. The author suggests other methods to evaluate students' performances such as benchmark testing.
Outline:
Definition and Examples of StandardizedTests.
Factual Benefits of Having StandardizedTesting System
Drawbacks of StandardizedTesting Correlation Between StandardizedTests' Scores and Student's Acceptance Rate
Other Methods of Measuring Students' Academic Success
Conclusion
References
From the Paper "Standardized testing is an examination conducted with a set of clearly drafted questions that are highly researched for quality. The outcome of standardized tests can be relied upon to judge the quality of knowledge acquired by a student. Questions in a standardized test comprises of just the sheet of question and with a set of answers for each question. Students can choose and mark the correct answer from the given set of answers. Other forms of questions include the choice to judge whether a statement is correct or wrong, question to match the correct answer and statements with space to be filled with the most suitable answer."
Abstract This paper examines the issue of standardizedtesting, focusing specifically on "The Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System" exams, in the United States, which are given from the elementary levels through to high school levels and are supposed to test a student comprehensively, across all learning areas from math to science to reading to writing. The writer looks at the problems and fairness of standardizedtests such as this one and questions whether intelligence should really be tested in a democracy.
From the Paper ?It is one of the great contradictions in American society: We preach equality and then try to find as many ways as possible of demonstrating inequality. Essential to the heart of any democracy is a belief in the essential equality of all citizens ? before the law and in the ballot booth at least. And it is also a fundamental tenet of Christianity (in this mainly Christian country) that we are all equal in the eyes of God.And yet, we all also know that this is not true, that we are not all equal. Some of us are smarter than our neighbors, and some more virtuous and some more mentally stable. And many of those people who consider themselves to be among the smarter, better, saner portion yearn to be able to prove this fact, possibly to themselves and no doubt in many cases to the world at large.?
Abstract This paper focuses on the types of instruments, data and instructional strategies available to raise the students' scores in reading on the Illinois standard achievement test and the standardizedtesting the state requires of all students. The writer believes that standardizedtesting should not be abolished but rather that it measure what the students are actually learning. The Wilson School in Chicago Heights, Illinois, is used as an example of the standardizedtesting issues faced by this state and its children. The writer recommends adjusting the testing program to meet five goals, which are much more important for students than their specific scores on a test.
From the Paper "The third grade students have been the focus group tested by the state in reading on the ISAT for years. The existing data records for 1999-2001 show the percentage of students at the local (Wilson School), state, and district levels who have failed to meet the state standards in reading at the third-grade level. Data for the third-grade teachers at Wilson can also be found through their university transcripts and professional development records kept in the central office files."
Abstract This paper explores the validity and reliability of standardizedtests and discusses whether these tests are specific to purpose. The paper provides an assessment of non-standardized students. The paper contends that the use of "high-risk/stake" testing should be carefully reconsidered and possible adoption of other methods secured. The paper discusses various research studies on this topic and concludes that since there is no such thing as a 'standardized student', standardizedtesting is missing the mark.
From the Paper "Mandated testing is occurring in many states and within many schools through the United States. This tests are for the specific purpose of gathering data and facts in relation to achievements students each year as well as being a test that carries "high-risks" in terms of the student's future, noticeably so when considered so much is riding on the score of only one test. Furthermore, schools as well as the faculty may receive praise or heavy sanction based on high or low testing scores. And these tests may be enacted by policy-makers with the best of intentions and with the most integral thought as motive however, it doesn't add up to an average however, indeed there is no such thing as average with only one test."
Abstract The paper analyzes standardizedtesting used by the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO), an independent agency that evaluates the quality of education in the Ontario. Th paper discusses the province-wide tests administered by the EQAO, including the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT) for Grade 10 students, reading, writing and math tests for Grade 3 and 6, and math tests for Grade 9.
From the Paper "The government of Ontario appointed the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) in 1995, as an independent agency to evaluate the quality of education in the province. One of the most important things EQAO does is to administer province-wide tests. These include the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT) for Grade 10 students, reading, writing and math tests for Grade 3 and 6, and math tests for Grade 9 (EQAO, Sept., 2005). The EQAO stated in its most recent provincial report that: EQAO is a vital part of the education community."
Abstract The paper describes how the government of Ontario appointed the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) in 1995, as an independent agency to evaluate the quality of education in the province. The paper analyzes how the EQAQ administers province-wide tests. These include the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT) for Grade 10 students, reading, writing and math tests for Grade 3 and 6, and math tests for Grade 9.
From the Paper "Mike Harris' Ontario government introduced a system of standardized testing in 2001. This was presented as being for the sake of improving the quality of education in Ontario. However it will be argued that the real point of introducing standardized testing was political, and that in fact standardized testing is bad for education, not good for it. In fact, children suffer when standardized testing is used, and the quality of their education declines. They may even be put off learning, or suffer stress that negatively impacts their natural love of learning."
Abstract This paper contends that student aptitude should not be assessed through standardizedtesting because these tests are unfair to many students. It also claims that, these tests are unfair to underprivileged schools and poor test takers and that they take time out of class and don't prepare students for real life by teaching them to pass the test.
From the Paper "Not only does this form of testing cut out time from class, it is a poor assessor of student achievement. This means that a standardized test cannot measure the ability to create. A multiple choice test cannot determine a child's ability to "think or create in any field" (Fairtest 1). Standardized tests cannot give questions to do so because they are expensive and often the scoring is incorrect. Therefore this type of test should not be given if the ultimate goal is to assess student achievement because it cannot measure the student's ability to think at a high level; which is what all educators want for their students. Not only this says Fairtest.org, "Nor so these tests adequately measure thinking skills or assess what people can do on real-world tasks" (fairtest 3). Is not the sole purpose of education to prepare a student for college, and then ultimately the real world? Students are required to take classes such as FACS to prepare them for life situations, however if a standardized test cannot measure such skills then they are ineffective and obsolete. "
Abstract This paper examines standardizedtests with an emphasis on their fairness to minorities, those with cultural diversity, limited English and disabilities. The reliability of standardizedtests as a fair indicator of school success is considered, focusing primarily on the experiences of African-American students. This paper concludes that standardizedtests are not at all fair towards minorities - as indicated in the fact that several colleges, such as Holy Cross, are abandoning standardizedtests in their admissions processes.
Introduction
StandardizedTests and Bias in College Admissions: Several Case Studies
The SAT's Racial Bias - If This Test Didn't Work, What of NCLB and AYP?
With This Discrepancy In StandardizedTesting, How Are NCLB and AYP Affected?
Conclusion
From the Paper "Most alarmingly, of the seven tests addressing "African American issues," four or 57% were "negative" or culturally unflattering and unappealing in nature. Those tests focused on the slavery experience and on the diminished rights, poverty, and racial/ethnic chauvinism faced by Black people in the United States. (Fleming, 2000) The three "positive," or culturally celebratory, tests addressed Harlem (New York City) politics in transition, William H. Johnson's paintings, and a memoir of a Black leader - as the popular sarcastic phrase in the industry notes, the rest of the questions are about polo and fly fishing, activities in which, for both social and economic reasons, African Americans are hardly likely to engage. "
Tags: education, minorities, testing, school, success, university
Abstract This book presents a review of a book about standardizedtests by G.W. Bracey, "Put to the Test: An Educator's and Consumer's Guide to StandardizedTesting." The paper discusses Bracey's thesis that tests have grown beyond their ability to serve useful educational purposes.
From the Paper "The big pedagogic picture of Put to the Test is that it is a reality check on what Bracey analyzes as the blind faith that has been put in standardized-test scores as far as predicting the academic success or failure of students is concerned ..."
Abstract This paper looks at the effects of poverty on standardizedtesting and education in general. It looks at how there are many causes and effects of poverty, and many other factors to be considered when taking poverty into account in analyzing test scores. Some of the other factors include race, state of the schools, teacher availability, overcrowding and the inferior conditions of the school buildings. The paper determines that overall poverty has a negative effect on education and testing.
From the Paper "When you think of kids who score extremely well on high-stakes tests like the California Achievement Test, the SAT, and others, do you think of poor non-white children in overpopulated run-down inner-city schools with insufficient books and supplies and a harried, underpaid, under-appreciated teacher? No. It is not actually surprising to learn that standardized test scores are lower in areas with lower incomes and higher poverty rates. It does not take a National Merit Scholar to understand that "bad" schools do not produce many academic overachievers, but the complexity of the issue might not be so readily apparent. The overwhelmingly negative effects of poverty on standardized test scores result from a variety of sources, ranging from the school facilities and supplies, to the teachers, to the parents, to the surrounding environmental factors, all of which are tied up in issues of race, economics, corporations and politics."
