- What standardized tests have your completed?
- Did taking any one (or all) of these help you demonstrate evidence of learning? Which one?
- What do you think motivated the development of standardized testing?
Personal History of Standardized Test taking
I have taken several layers of
standardized testing for a variety of reasons. I first took the ERB all through
elementary and middle school. However, I do not remember what they were used
for, or if I received any results from taking them. I took several college
readiness standardized tests: PSAT/NMSQT, SAT, ACT, & GRE. In my previous
careers I took several standardized test to demonstrate I was qualified to be
certified in a particular field by a certifying or national governing body. I
also have one more in my future as the series of Praxis exams looms.
Evidence of Learning:
To begin
discussing the standardized tests ability to demonstrate my learning, I will
first define what I am answering. I will define learning as the acquisition of
knowledge of skills. To do this, a test would have to been given multiple times
to give me some sort of baseline and then subsequent data to demonstrate
change. The only test that I took repeatedly was the ERB. I took them in middle
school over some regular interval, every year or every two years, but I cannot
remember. I also do not remember getting any score report from the ERB that
could have been used to demonstrate this, but it is possible.
I view most of my standardized testing
as tests designed to demonstrate minimum qualifications to gain certification.
I do not view these as demonstrating learning because I do not have baseline
score to start with. These tests were also not designed to demonstrate
learning. There were designed to determine where I had the minimum skills
necessary to perform a service or fulfill a professional role.
Development of standardized testing:
Historically,
results of examination have been used to determine fitness to perform in a
certain role or capacity from around 2200 BC (Wardrop, 1976). As testing has grown and developed in modern
times, standardized tests have been developed to provide society with a means
to determine if a student passes or fails, teachers are retained or released,
and if schools are funded or reorganized (National Council of Teachers of English, 2014). Standardized tests were
developed for a variety of reasons including: licensure or certification,
admissions, placement, employment, and several other reasons. The most
important aspect of a standardized test is that it is designed and used for its
intended purpose. (Educational Testing Service, 2016).
While
standardized tests seem like a useful tool to be used as they are intended and
rationalized by most people, they are simply unable to measure the actual means
by which learning occurs (Strauss & Brady, 2014). It seems that Educational
Testing Service (ETS) the non-profit entity that is responsible for developing,
distributing, and grading standardized tests, may also have a vested interest
in the rise and continued role of standardized testing (Nordheimer & Frantz, 1997). So to answer the where the
development of of standardized tests comes from is a combination of wanting to
keep the school system accountable in the face of paranoia of the performance of
US students in comparison to international counter parts (Barshay, 2013). Combine this with a security blanket of an
objective test that is easy to administer to large groups and compare a result
and it is a pretty good business model for ETS.
References
Barshay, J.
(2013). Top US students fare poorly in international PISA test scores, Shanghai
tops world, Finland slips. Retrieved
from http://educationbythenumbers.org/content/top-us-students-fare-poorly-international-pisa-test-scores-shanghai-tops-world-finland-slips_693/
Educational Testing Service. (2016). Purpose of
Standardized Tests Retrieved 1/30/2016,
from https://www.ets.org/understanding_testing/purpose
National Council of Teachers of English, J. R. S. O.
o. P. R. (2014). How Standardized Tests Shape--and Limit--Student Learning. A
Policy Research Brief: National Council of Teachers of English.
Nordheimer, J., & Frantz, D. (1997). Testing giant
exceeds roots, drawing businee rivals' ire. The
New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/1997/09/30/us/testing-giant-exceeds-roots-drawing-business-rivals-ire.html?pagewanted=1
Strauss, V., & Brady, M. (2014). What do
standardized tests actually test? The
Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2014/08/01/what-do-standardized-tests-actually-test/
Wardrop, J. L. (1976). Standarized testing in the schools : uses and roles. Monterey,
Calif.: Brooks/Cole Pub. Co.
