Standardized Testing

A standardized  test in my opinion should not determine an individual’s intelligence level. Most of the things on the tests have not been taught to the students so why should they be penalized. I remember taking standardized test and I was more concerned about finishing in the time allotted and not what was on the test. If I was running out of time I would just circle any answer without even reading it thoroughly.

In my opinion children can be assessed, but not with standardized tests or using measurements. There are a lot of assessment tools that you can use that are developmentally appropriate to show how well a child is developing. We can observe children to assess how they are doing better than depending on test scores. Observation and  documentation of student work along with performance based assessment provide direct evaluation and provide useful information that parents and teachers can use.
            Just because a person passes or does not pass a standardized test it doesn’t tell us how smart they are. I know children who can memorize and pass tests but don’t know anything about the test other than what they memorized. The Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS) are standardized tests developed by the University of Iowa's College of Education   I remember taking the Iowa test of Basic skills even though I lived in Pennsylvania and I was getting average scores.  I didn’t do great on the SAT but was able to do well in college.

 

 

According to an article retrieved from   http://www.pta.org/programs/content.cfm?ItemNumber=1724 written by James Popham these are the some facts about standardized testing:

1.       Educational tests are much less accurate than most parents believe”

2.       Educational tests allow teachers to make inferences about a student's unseen skills or knowledge, but these inferences may or may not be valid. The skills and knowledge children possess can't be seen

3.       High-stakes tests, depending on the particular way they are constructed, can have a decisively positive or negative effect on a child's education.

4.       Although achievement tests are designed to assess a student's skills and knowledge, and aptitude tests to predict a student's success in a subsequent academic setting, it is sometimes difficult to tell which is which.

5.       Traditionally constructed standardized achievement tests—designed chiefly to compare a student's test score with other students' scores—should not be used to evaluate school quality

6.       Traditionally constructed standardized achievement tests can provide parents and teachers with useful information about a student's relative performance levels

7.       Even though only about 25 percent of a student's success in college is related to the student's score on aptitude tests such as the ACT and SAT, parents should (1) still help their children prepare for those tests, but (2) avoid conveying a negative impression to a child whose test scores are not particularly high

8.       Performance tests, although both difficult and costly to score, often yield the most valid inferences about a student's mastery of many significant skills

9.       Because educational tests (both teacher-made classroom tests and commercially developed standardized tests) vary in their quality, it should not be assumed that every educational test is a good one.

10.  Although an individual student's attitudes or interests are almost impossible to measure accurately, assessing such affective outcomes on a group-basis can provide accurate and powerful evidence of the quality of a school's instructional program

          Note:    Visit the link provided above to see a more in depth breakdown of the facts

 

                            

 

                                                     Testing in Germany 

The test that they take in Germany for graduation from school and acceptance into their University is called the Arbiet. That test should not lower student motivation because the students have control over what test they take, when they take the test, and what classes they will take to prepare for it (Abbeduto 2006). The difference between the United States and Germany is the way that they prepare their students for the test and who is accountable for the student’s performance.  The curriculum that the children are learning in school reflects what is on the Arbiet test. Students in Germany have a choice of what test they will take and what classes they need so they can pass that test

 

                                              References

 Abbeduto, L., (2006). Taking Sides: Clashing Views in Educational Psychology. (4th ed.) Dubuque, Iowa: McGraw-Hill Contemporary Learning Series

German and American Schools: Testing. (n.d.). Retrieved August 7, 2015, from http://sitemaker.umich.edu/case.356/testing

 Popham, J. (n.d.). Ten "Must-Know" Facts About Educational Testing. Retrieved August 6, 2015, from http://www.pta.org/programs/content.cfm?ItemNumber=1724

 

The German School System. (n.d.). Retrieved August 7, 2015, from http://www.partners-in-education.com/pages/germany/prolog_germany.html

 

What's Wrong With Standardized Tests? (n.d.). Retrieved August 6, 2015, from http://fairtest.org/whats-wrong-standardized-tests