With exams created and given by an independent organization, standardized test scores are useful because they come from a neutral source and give us data that we can compare to other independent schools across the United States and with other international schools across the globe. When we receive standardized test data at Whitby, we use it to evaluate the effectiveness of our education program. We view standardized testing data as not only another set of data points to assess student performance , but also as a means to help us reflect on our curriculum.
Assessment data is also useful for year-over-year internal comparisons. We compare data over a number of years to find trends—and then trace any changes back to their source. If the math scores of our fourth grade students suddenly jump, we want to identify what change led to the improved performance, and how we can continue to implement this within our curriculum. In worst case scenarios, instead of determining the entire picture of learning through a review of all assessment data with their teachers, a student might determine their success based on a standardized test score that is taken once a year..
When standardized exams become all important in a school or district, it has a massive impact on teaching and learning. Educators may also stop trying new techniques and teaching methods in the classroom. This comes at the cost of inquiry, engagement, creativity and risk taking in student learning.
Cultural factors, unfamiliarity with testing methods, test anxiety, and illness can wreak havoc with how well a student performs. Does a low score indicate a lack of knowledge about the subject or a problem with taking the standardized test? For example, an excellent writer could struggle with picking out the right answer in a multiple choice grammar and punctuation test.
Another pioneer, Edward Thorndike, was a specialist in rats and mazes. Just the kind of mind you want your kid to have, right? Albert Einstein never created a standardized test although he failed a number of them , and neither did any of the great thinkers of our age or any age. Standardized tests are usually developed by pedantic researchers with Ph. Ds in educational testing or educational psychology. Standardized tests provide parents and teachers with a false sense of security.
If a student scores well on a test, then it is assumed that they know the material. However, this may not be true at all. The student may have simply memorized the fact or formula or trick necessary to do well on the test some students are naturally gifted in taking standardized tests, others are not. A group of Harvard graduates were asked why it is colder in the winter and warmer in the summer.
Most of them got the question wrong. Standardized tests exist for administrative, political, and financial purposes, not for educational ones. Test companies make billions. Politicians get elected by promising better test results. Administrators get funding and avoid harsh penalties by boosting test scores. Everyone benefits except the children. For them, standardized testing is worthless and worse. If instruction is effective, then all students would be expected to perform well on the test and attain the same high scores.
In other words, with an instructionally sensitive test, effective instruction would serve to minimize the differences among students. This is not the purpose for which these tests were developed and not what they are designed to do. Using SAT and ACT results in this way is a prime example of invalid interpretation and use of standardized test results. Standardized testing is neither a good thing nor a bad thing. Standardized test results provide important and reliable information that can be highly useful to educators at all levels.
But that information also has important limitations. To ensure validity in interpretation and use, educators must know the purpose for which a standardized test was developed and use results for that specific purpose only. Especially in high-stakes situations, using standardized test results for purposes other than that for which the test was designed is not only inappropriate and invalid, it also can have serious negative consequences for schools, teachers, and particularly for students.
Popham, W. Phi Delta Kappan , 89 2 , — Shepard, L. The centrality of test use and consequences for test validity.
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