Answer to Question #251283 in English for Gaskin

Question

What is your understanding of Standardized Testing? In your own words, define Standardized Testing. Discuss the positives and negatives of this approach. Finally, examine your final thoughts on Standardized Testing and whether or not it is currently in practice within your classroom and or milieu. If you are not a teacher, then discuss how it may be implemented in your future practice.

Answer 1

1. When all of the students taking the test have to respond to the same set of carefully selected questions, this is referred to as standardized testing.

2. The positives of this approach

Standardized testing is a metric for learning.

We acquire a valuable statistic when students are assessed through standardized testing, which we may use to check the quality of our program. Standardized test scores are beneficial because they originate from a neutral source and provide data that we can compare to other independent schools throughout the country and to other international schools around the world when examinations are produced and given by an independent organization.

Standardized tests can help schools evaluate progress. Standardized testing comparisons can also be made with assessment data. A school looks for trends by comparing data over several years and then tracing any changes back to their source. If for example fourth-grade children' math scores suddenly improve, a school will want to figure out what changed to cause the improvement and how they can continue to incorporate it into their curriculum. Also the school uses a student's previous evaluation data to track their development and indicate any obstacles they could face as well as identifying places where they have already improved and excelled.

Data from standardized testing can be used not simply to evaluate student achievement, but also to assist a school reflect on their curriculum. Then they may compare their students to their peers at other schools using the school's assessment data to see what we're doing well within our educational continuum and where we need to spend more time and resources.

The negatives of this approach

There's a lot of pressure on teachers to "teach to the test." When standardized tests become the most important part of a school's curriculum, it has a significant impact on teaching and learning. If educators believe that their evaluations (and careers) are completely based on how well kids perform, they typically begin “teaching to the test.” Educators may also stop experimenting in the classroom with new tactics and teaching strategies. Teachers will be concerned that an untested strategy would backfire and cause their students to score lower than before, as each minute counts down to their students' next exam. This happens at the expense of student learning curiosity, involvement, innovation, and risk-taking.

Cultural influences, unfamiliarity with testing techniques, test anxiety, and illness can all affect a student's ability to perform effectively.

Because we need internal and external assessments to monitor student achievement, standardized testing is a complex subject. When assessments are used as data to help schools enhance the quality of their teaching and learning, they are beneficial. When exams are used to assess children' innate skills and educators are pressured to "teach to the test," they become destructive.

One of the biggest drawbacks of standardized testing is that it's all too easy to mistake a student's result for their competence. Many students have exhibited clear grasp of a subject or concept through numerous examinations, but they are not as adept at taking multiple choice tests. However, it can be difficult for a student to feel as if they didn't perform as well as they would have liked.

3. Standardized testing, in my opinion, is used by both public and private schools throughout the school year. Students in public schools are subjected to numerous tests to ensure that they are meeting state or federal standards. It is believed that standardized tests provide an objective assessment of education and a useful meter for identifying areas for development, as well as useful data to assist students from underserved groups, and that the scores are strong predictors of college and job success. Standardized exams should never be viewed as a value judgment on a student rather, they should be viewed as an additional data point that can help schools and parents gain a better understanding of their students' learning.

Standardized assessments, on the other hand, serve as a single scale against which all pupils' academic talents are measured. Poorer children are also more likely to attend schools with a less demanding curriculum and fewer high-quality teachers, so they may not be as well prepared for the examinations as their counterparts in other schools.

4. Standardized testing is currently in practice within my classroom.

5. How standardized testing may be implemented in your future practice.

First, the state decides what the test should look like

Then measured progress begins writing questions.

Educators weigh in the positives and negatives of the approach.

Field tests check for flaws.

Psychometricians scan for bias.

Proofers review the final product.

Students take tests and scores are tallied.