Standardized Testing

What Are Standardized Tests?

A standardized test is a test  that is administered and scored in a consistent, or "standard", manner. Standardized tests are designed in such a way that the questions, conditions for administering, scoring procedures, and interpretations are consistent and are administered and scored in a predetermined, standard manner.

Any test in which the same test is given in the same manner to all test takers, is a standardized test. Standardized tests do not need to be high takes task time-limited tests, or multiple-choice tests. The questions can be simple or complex. The subject matter among school-age students is frequently academic skills, but a standardized test can be given on nearly any topic, including driving tests, creativity, personality, professional ethics, or other attributes.

The opposite of standardized testing is non-standardized testing, in which either significantly different tests are given to different test takers, or the same test is assigned under significantly different conditions (e.g., one group is permitted far less time to complete the test than the next group) or evaluated differently (e.g., the same answer is counted right for one student, but wrong for another student).

Standardized tests are perceived as being fairer than non-standardized tests, because everyone gets the same test and the same grading system. This is fairer and more objective than a system in which some students get an easier test and others get a more difficult test. The consistency also permits more reliable comparison of outcomes across all test takers, because everyone is taking the same test.

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF STANDARDIZED TESTS

Basically, standardized testing is a way to determine the academic achievement and potential of students. But when the skills of American students were ranked against others around the world, America didn’t even rank in the top tier.

When George W. Bush was president, he announced his No Child Left Behind program on his third day in office. With the addition of this program, federally mandated tests increased from six to 17.

Bush’s successor, Barack Obama, emphasized during his campaign the absurdity of heavy testing. But when he assumed office, he introduced his own initiative called the Common Core state standards. While there was nothing wrong with the concepts, the system is very flawed. A lot of the tests given are also very challenging but at the same time, they don’t really reflect a student’s ability.

Standardized testing has been implemented for over a decade, but according to studies, the achievement gap still hasn’t narrowed. In fact, students, parents and even teachers are opting out of the Common Core exams. The numbers are continuing to grow, and just recently, Missouri Legislature banned the test.

But why are legislators still pushing for standardized tests despite the protests? And why are parents, teachers and students not interested in taking them? Here’s a look at the advantages and disadvantages of standardized testing.

Advantages of Standardized Testing

1. A practical solution.
First off, most of the standardized tests are in multiple choice format. In other words, they are not complicated enough to explain and any student – no matter what level – can understand that they have to tick one of the boxes as their answer. Also, given that tests are easy to implement, they save a lot of time too. Not a lot of time is wasted on giving explanations for why certain sections should be done like this and so. The instructions are fairly simple: choose the answer to the question based on the suggestions below.

2. Results are quantifiable.
When educators are able to quantify the achievement of students, they are able to identify proficiency levels. As such, they can easily identify the students who need remediation or advancement.

However, this is also one of the major complaints about testing: that it truly does not measure the actual skill of a student in a given subject. The outcry over the absurdity of standardized testing warranted it an 18-minute skewering on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. One of the most ludicrous points brought up was the inclusion of a story about a talking pineapple to which children had to answer questions after having gone through the piece.

3. Scoring automation.
With so many students at different grade levels taking the exam, it’s difficult for educators to get through them all. Now, that problem has been simplified through computerized testing – and even scoring.

Then again, computer issues – inability to log on and such – have delayed testing in certain schools across America. In fact, it’s become one of the complaints against standardized testing as well. Also, another complaint about the use of computers is the algorithm for evaluating student performance itself: it is just mysterious.

4. Not biased.
Since a computer handles the grading and all, there is no possible influence of a teacher on the exams. In the past, a teacher can make up their mind about a student’s skills based solely on their biases towards the child. But with computers, those powers are stripped from them and students can now be judged on what they have put on paper – no external factors involved.

5. Allows for comparison.
Educators can compare the results of examinations within the school or even compare it to other schools. Through this, teachers can assess which areas they need to improve on for the students. For example, students from their school may have scored lower in mathematics compared to a rival school. From there, teachers can focus on improving the math curriculum so students will score better next time.

6. Traces student progress.
Standardized tests are taken at certain levels, and over that time, educators can see the progress students have made. They either go into decline or improve tremendously. But whichever the case, teachers now have an idea how best they would respond to a child’s education needs.

Disadvantages of Standardized Testing

1. Questions are general in nature.
The tests do not really assess skill as the questions have to be generalized for the entire population. In short, the test items are not in conjunction with classroom skills and behavior. What standardized tests do is assess the general knowledge and understanding of students rather than their actual ability.

2. Questions are sometimes ridiculous.
Some of the ridiculousness was brought up in John Oliver’s show, and that included questions that were too difficult to comprehend. For instance, a teacher took the exam (not the exact one but something that was close to a legal standardized exam) and the test graded him as a poor reader. What’s worse, the teacher had a Master’s degree.

A fifth-grade teacher in New York also highlighted just how difficult some of the questions are. For example, only six students out of 17 finished an ELA test but the ones who didn’t finish were those the teacher considered avid readers. The teacher declared that “There was just far too much material on the test for them to get through and comprehend.” And also added, “The test isn’t designed for them to pass.”

3. Results doesn’t allow educators to update their instruction methods.
The questions on the test are general in nature, and it’s hard for teachers to know how to improve students’ understanding of a particular topic based on general information alone. What this does though is allowing teachers to “teach to the test” rather than educate students properly based on the needs of the classroom.

4. Scores are influenced by external factors like fatigue.
Students study hard for these exams. They study so hard that there are even instructions on what teachers should do if a student vomits on their test booklets. Students feel pressured taking these exams and sometimes their final scores are reflective not of their ability but of being influenced by other factors instead. 

Creating a Standardized Assessment Test: Practice Makes Perfect 

If you are going to bother doing something, do it well and make it worth your time. I take that mantra and apply it to almost everything in my classroom, and preparing for standardized tests is no different. Whether you love or hate the nature of high-stakes testing, it is a necessary evil until a better way to ensure equal evaluation of students comes along. Here is how my class attacks the tests head-on and how I ensure high levels of learning in the process.

Assessment Test Plan: Know Your Blueprint

Currently, states have different assessments and information available depending on where you live, but we are moving towards common assessments with the implementation of Common Core. No matter your assessment, there is a blueprint somewhere. Know exactly how long each test is, what the sections are, and how they are to be administered. Can your students use calculators on any one part? Blueprints, sometimes called “specs” or “specifications,” tell you exactly what skills will be tested and how many points each question is worth. They may include important details, like which questions require open-ended responses and what will not be included as well. Find your blueprint and know it inside and out. Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium offers potential blueprints for common assessments, and more definite blueprints will surface as Common Core assessments are created.

Ask the Right Questions

Find sample tests and dissect them. Many times questions are asked in a very prescribed format. We take the sample books, examples from presentations, and any other test-prep material we can find and pull the question stems. Question stems are going to be the format you want to ask all your practice questions in. For example, I know that my students will be asked about author’s purpose. The question stem might say, “Why did the author most likely write this passage?” Knowing how the question will be asked allows me to create similar questions for my students. If the test is going to use italics instead of bold words, then so am I. If the test says “provide evidence,” then I’m not going to say “give examples.” I’m going to say exactly what the test does. Here is one example of the question stems I use in 4th grade English language arts.

Open-Ended Preparation

Assessments may include open-ended responses. These questions require students to write responses or show their work and reasoning. Again, we check the blueprint and figure out what questions could be asked in an open-ended way. Then, we find question stems that mirror those on sample tests. While we are learning throughout the year, we adapt test questions to this format so that students are used to writing their responses. We get out the rubrics and show students how to grade open-ended questions, so they know exactly what will be required. As we get closer to test time, students participate in a guided response before tackling a similar question on their own daily. Yes, I said daily.

Both reading and math open-ended questions are practiced each day throughout much of the year, so they are commonplace and students are ready to respond. I try to make it as easy as possible. For math, I took the sample questions and created four or five of each question, just changing the figures. Copied into binders, these sets can be used over and over without making excess copies! Critical Literacy: Enhancing Students’ Comprehension of Text is a great resource for developing great open-ended questions.

Assembling an Assessment Test

Once you know the number and type of each kind of question, and you have the wording down, you are ready to assemble your test. Make your test as much like the real format as possible. If your blueprint says that there are seven questions about double-digit multiplication and you know the different ways the question might be asked, then your assessment should also have seven questions asked in the same way. I have test “blanks” that I use. Our math and reading tests are given in the same format, with numbers going down the columns and each question in a box. I retype all my tests into this format so that it is familiar to the students.

Going back to the blueprint can also give clues about the answer document. We run sample documents provided by the state. If a response must be gridded, we get the exact grid. If answers are on lined paper, we use the same paper the test will have.

Taking Time to Test

My school has what we call “shutdowns.” A shutdown is basically a practice run for the real test. The test will start in the morning and run for a specific length of time. During that time, there is no movement in the hallways and all classes are testing the entire time. We prepare our assessments and documents ahead of time and proctor the test in the same way as will happen with the real test. My grade usually does reading one day and math the next, but that varies by grade level with some classes testing both subjects in one span. We start with short one or one-and-a-half hour tests every month or so early in the school year. As we move through the year, the frequency and time increase. By this point in the year, we are testing every eight days for up to two hours.

Practice Makes Perfect

We don’t simply take tests and that’s that. After an assessment, my class reviews the test. How we review depends on the subject, and I try to change it up to keep everyone’s attention. I might run diagnostics, only spending focused time reviewing the questions we struggled with. I sometimes have students grade each other’s papers, but other times I grade them all and pull small groups to review specific skills. Fellow blogger Alycia has some great ways to keep up engagement during test prep. I reward for improvement and for focus during the test time, more than for final grades. The point? Students know how to answer next time and we hone in on skills that are weak with immediate feedback.

Final Analysis

The work is never done when preparing for these types of assessment tests. Throughout the year, we are conscious of how we teach and assess our students. When results come in, we spend data meetings highlighting students that fell below desired levels and figure out what skills to work on throughout the year. We take grade-level results and locate weak areas, making specific lesson plans to address those needs. If we only got two out of three points on an open-ended question, we figure out what type of question it might have been and formulate practices to help raise the score.

 References :

http://connectusfund.org/10-big-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-standardized-testing

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standardized_test#Advantages

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/top-teaching/2013/04/creating-standardized-assessment-test-practice-makes-perfect