Standardized Testing Vs Standardized Tests

What is a standardized test? It is any form of test that requires all test takers to answer the same question, or selection of questions. Students shouldn’t have to take standardized tests because they can place a huge amount of stress on students and teachers, standardized tests are make students feel identical, standardized tests don’t provide any feedback on how to perform better.

     Standardized tests are administered to allow reliable and valid comparisons to be made among students taking the test. Two major types of standardized tests are currently in use; norm-referenced and criterion-referenced. A norm-referenced test is a test that has been given to representative samples of students such that norms of performance are established. Each student taking the test receives a score that can be compared to the norm or normal or sample of students. The scores are then reported in percentiles. The main purpose of these tests is to rank students along a distribution of performance. Because of this tests are likely to have items that are very difficult for the grade level so students can be

A standardized test refers to any examination that is administered and scored in a predetermined, standard manner. There are two major types of standardized test: aptitude test and achievement test (Popham 1999). The test that is most familiar to parents, educators and students is the standardized achievement test. Every year schools administer achievement test to students, the scores of these test are then used by the public and school board members to evaluate a schools effectiveness. Although previous generations of American student have had to sit through test, never have test been given so frequently or played such a prominent role in schooling as they do today (Kohn 2000). The large role standardized testing has taken in todays schooling has lead many to question whether or not it is effective in measuring educational quality. In fact many researcher have reason to believe it is in face ineffective due to a bias against minority students. In order to understand how a bias in standardized testing would impact minority students, we must educate ourselves on the amount of preparation the test requires, as well as how it is created. The issue of standardized testing being biased should matter to all people, not just those who are directly effected by it, because as a society it is our job to ensure that each child is given equal opportunity to succeed.

According to Education reform, “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 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 or individual students or groups of students.”

What is standardized testing? Standardized testing is a test which is given to students to evaluate the knowledge which they know. Testing can be in all subjects and topics in education. In Minnesota there is the MCA ( Minnesota Common Assessment). The MCA can be taken from elementary to high school, and the students are tested on subjects they have learned from the past. In Minnesota the MCA is a test which the government requires students to take. On a national level there is the ACT and SAT. These are usually taken as entrance exams to colleges and universities. ACT and SAT are two different types of test they have differ in grading systems and some colleges take both or one of the two. Why are standardized test given? The test are given so people in charge can evaluate the performance of the student and school; also gage the knowledge of the student. But standardized test like the ACT can not be an effective way to improve instruction and performance because it is a competency focused test. The reason why standardized test are competence: They test students on how well they can eliminate the incorrect answers to find the correct one. This is an inefficient way because what if the test taker crosses out the wrong answer, this forces the taker to choose between two wrong answers. There's needs to be tested efficiently and accurately gage their knowledge.

The use of standardized testing to measure students’ knowledge is an inaccurate reflection of their capabilities. By being forced to take a test that does not effectively show their abilities, students become overstressed, and the tests themselves do not promote true academic achievement. Rather than learning about subjects in order to gain knowledge, students simply memorize facts and formulas to get a decent test score. Standardized tests are not an appropriate measure of student performance, only benefit certain groups of students, and do not prepare students for the real world.

Standardized testing is a test that are taken by students all over the United States. Standardized tests have the same questions that are given with the same instructions, and with the same scoring method. Standardized testing has impacted teachers, students, and parents. For teachers, it has an impact on their salaries and for students it has an impact on their future. Standardized testing is unfair and needs to be terminated.

Many different types of tests can be “standardized” in the same way. Test specialists consider the standardized tests to be a fair and objective methods of assessing the academic achievement of students, mainly because the standardized format, coupled with computerized scoring, reduces the potential for favoritism and subjective evaluations. Standardized tests could be used for different educational purposes. As an example, they could be used to determine the student’s academic performance and identify students who need academic support and place students in different course levels or award diplomas. Assessment tests are one forms of standardized tests and it has been designed to measure the skills and knowledge students learned in school, and determine the academic progress they have made over a period of time. For example the assessment test students need to take at the beginning of the first year of college or university. The assessment tests can be used to identify the academic placement for a student too. For educational purposes they can be used to hold schools and educators accountable for educational results and student performance, to evaluate whether students have learned what they are expected to learn, to determine if they have met learning

A Standardized test is a form of test that all students across the nation take at one point. These tests are federally mandated, timed, and designed to measure students performance in basic subjects. All students receive the same questions on the test so it's supposed to be multiple choice questions that ‘fits all’ students. Standardized testing does not measure the knowledge of students, although many schools require students take them.

Each year many high school students are encouraged to take standardized tests. They are told how essential the tests are and to spend vast amounts of time preparing for them. Although many people think that standardized tests are a useful tool for the measurement of students’ aptitude and intelligence, they are ineffective to represent the true proficiency of their understanding.

Recently, the amount of standardized testing in the United States increased drastically. “Students are taking between ten and twenty standardized tests, depending on the grade. A total average of one hundred thirteen different ones by graduation”(Locker). A few years ago the United States, along with other nations, was given a test to assess the academic strengths and weaknesses of each nation and rank them accordingly. When the results were released and the United States was ranked near the bottom, the nation decided to start incorporating more testing through school. Between benchmark, TLI, PARCC, and common core standards, teaching pedagogy changed once again. Standardized testing has had a negative effect on teachers

After almost completing a semester in this class and observing in classrooms within the Staten Island elementary education system. I came to the conclusion that most high stake assessments do not accurately reflect a student’s knowledge of the material. Also, that low stake assessments often are the best route to take because you can evaluate how much progress is being made and how much knowledge they have on the topic, without the stress of a high stakes evaluation.

Secondly, the standardized test does not teach you how succeed in a public setting, or how to make life changing difference. Public speaking is a necessary to have when working in the job force, you'll need a good character and intelligence. Students could learn skills like teamwork, leadership, public speaking, multitasking, and strategizing by joining clubs, and sports through their school. During your test you are in a quiet setting look at fifty questions in some hours. There are no skills to learn besides test taking skills. Like many famous people they did not succeed by a test, they achieved their goals by skills, friendships, and most importantly education.

If test scores mean so much, then why is a kid going to high school everyday trying to make good grades? High school grades should be looked at more because they are a better measurement of the student. High school grades reflect years of work, studies, and effort (Soares). When students look at their final average for the class, they know that more than one thing is calculated into that. With standardized testing, they know it is just one score.

Standardized tests are annoying little things that students in schools all across the nation have to take every year. Though, if all the facts are taken into consideration, they do not really seem worth it, do they? Many people speculate whether or not they are actually measuring a student’s intelligence or anything like that. It seems that students do not necessarily have to learn the material, only memorize it for a short period of time. The question has to be raised, though-- what exactly qualifies a test to be a standardized test? Well, as described by The Glossary of Education Reform, there are two main things that make a test standardized. The first being that the test “...requires all test takers to answer the same questions, or