Standardized Testing
An False Measure of Education
By Jaryd Stein
2 Major Types of Tests
APTITUDE TEST
Predict how well ACHIEVEMENT TEST
students are likely to How committees evaluate
perform in subsequent a school’s effectiveness
educational setting 5 such tests nationally
SAT-I, ACT, MCAT, CAT, Comprehensive
LSAT, GMAT, GRE Test of Basic Skills,
Stanford Achievement
Tests
Who makes these tests?
Large corporations
Generally not teachers
People who do not spend time in a
classroom
Is knowledge the goal or is it lack
of that is desired?
Standardized Tests are more
concerned with what a student
doesn’t know than what one knows.
Common Misrepresented
Inferences About Standardized
Tests
Demonstrates student’s strengths and
weaknesses across various subjects
Can evaluate student’s growth over time
Standardized test evaluate what is learned in
the classroom
Standardized Testing can predict
performance later on
Standardized Tests Educational
Quality
“Unfortunately, the chief indicator by which
most communities judge a school staff’s
success is student performance on
standardized achievement tests.”
“Educational quality is being measured with
the wrong yardstick.”
These tests were never designed to measure
educational quality, but somehow over time
that’s what they evolved into
3 Factor Contributing to Scores
What’s taught in school
Student’s native intellectual ability
Out-of-school learning
Alternatives to Standardized Tests
Random Sampling
Performance Exams
Proficiency Exit Standards
Exhibitions
Parent Conferences
School Report Cards
“The primary purpose of
assessment is to improve the
quality of teaching and to help
students learn better. If the focus
is not on student learning, it’s
misplaced.”
W. James Popham