Standardized testing is simply one of many approaches for measuring things. By itself, this form of measurement has no more political agenda than a measuring tape, a thermometer, or a fuel gauge in a car. Like all instruments, however, standardized tests exist in specific cultural, economic, geographic, and political contexts. Standardized testing has become an important and
controversial 21st century topic largely because of its widespread use in elementary and secondary schooling.
In the US, where
standardized tests are used more frequently than most other countries, questions have arisen regarding the usefulness of standardized testing as well as regarding the validity and reliability of the inferences that can be made based on the results of standardized testing. While many scholars agree that standardized tests can be useful for diagnostic purposes, the use of standardized testing to measure the success and failure of students, teachers, schools, and districts is insufficient for understanding teaching and learning, or for getting a clear picture of what is happening in schools.
In particular, creativity as well as other important 21st century competencies simply cannot be measured using traditional assessment and evaluation methods. In his 2014 piece,
Can imagination be measured?, Mike Llewellyn argues that standardized tests offer no good predictions of post-secondary or career success. In his
2013 TED Talk, Sir Ken Robinson goes further, to suggest that the use of standardized testing can actually discourage creativity and disengage children from the processes of learning.
Often in schools, what gets tested is what gets taught. It follows that standardized testing too often accompanies broader standardization of teaching and learning.
To learn more about the role of standardized testing in education, see W. James Popham’s seminal 2001 work,
The Truth About Testing: An Educator’s Call to Action (New York, ASCD).
To learn more about how standardized testing is impacting classrooms and teaching in the US and Canada, see Arlo Kempf’s (2016),
The Pedagogy of Standardized Testing: The Radical Impacts of Educational Standardization in the US and Canada(New York, Palgrave).
To learn more about how validity and reliability work when interpreting standardized tests results, see
Thorndike & Thorndike-Christ’s (2010),
Measurement and Evaluation in Psychology and Education. (8th ed.) (NJ, Pearson).
No matter in any stage of education, standardized testing is good for students to remember the fundamental knowledge and check themselves if they are missing anything which is supposed to understand.
Standardize testing should be used especially in elementry school and middle school (early secondary) because it might help teachers be able to find students lacking in some areas and it will help them get the help they need to get back to where they need to be. It should have less of a role in secondary and post-secondary because at that point students are more creative and do more critical thinking and that is a flaw in standardize tests is that they don't measure those things. An aternative at that point should be more project based examinations to show those skills rather than tests that might not account for students deeper knowlege rather than how well they can figure out what the test takers want to hear or how they want them to answer.
It should be used in all grades because it's good for students to remember to check themselves.
I think that this type of evidence, only have to have that role, be a test and nothing else, that are not taken into account as a basis for education and are not fully validated
wo very good is perfect
since the role of each educational establishment should be very important as it can help them to detect the problems that students may have and, in the same way, help them to improve and have a good understanding
its role would be to check what the performance of each of the academic instuticiones in in pais
I SAY MORE THAN NOTHING THIS VIDEO TALKS ABOUT THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF TRIALS BUT THESE YOU ARE NOT DEBENTOMIZING YOU ENCOUNTER FOR THE BASIS OF OUR EDUCATION
I SAY MORE THAN NOTHING THIS VIDEO TALKS ABOUT THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF TRIALS BUT THESE YOU ARE NOT DEBENTOMIZING YOU ENCOUNTER FOR THE BASIS OF OUR EDUCATION
in my opinion the test can be done at any grade or stage of education as well as students can remember our nowledge must be fundamental
that people can have an idea of how smart they are before a test
Standardized testing should only be used when the content of the test has been effectively taught.
since the role of each educational establishment should be very important as it can help them to detect the problems that students may have and, in the same way, help them to improve and have a good understanding
It measures student's memorize abilities. However some of these tests are really necessary to understand student's tendency.
Standardized testing is used to compare students, schools, school districts, and to measure achievement of grade level standards. However, since No Child Left Behind, standardized achievement tests have been repurposed to grade schools while education funding and support has declined. They are big business driven with many study and practice components that parents and teachers can purchase.
Teachers spend many hours creating reports and developing lesson plans targeted to move students just below the acceptable achievement level to the level deemed appropriate by state education agencies. Often students in the upper and lowest levels are neglected. I've seen students in the lowest level make amazing achievement, but it didn't matter because they failed to break into the acceptable level. Meanwhile the on level and above students are neglected.
Standardized testing does not help students remember. Allowing them to use what they have learned does.
Yes I agree, but these test don’t focus on important skills in upcoming jobs. Like creativity, or financial management. Yes there should be standardized testing, but the tests need to be focusing on relevant skills that promote a better way for people to live in the real world.
No matter in any stage of education, standardized testing is good for students to remember the fundamental knowledge and check themselves if they are missing anything which is supposed to understand.
I feel standardized tests could be used to find strengths and weaknesses of students at all levels of education and even in the workplace. I don't think the grade of a standardized test should should have a large impact on the overall grade of a student
whats up
As an elementary teacher, I do not think it should be included in elementary schools. Students are tested too much.
As a teacher, I understand the concept and desired effect of standardized testing. What I don't agree with is the amount of time donated to the process. Also, who determines what is to be tested. Each students learns differently with different interests. standardized testing take away the process of student investigation; studying what they find interesting. Also, we don't test everything. does that mean what we don't test is not important. If that is the case, will we eliminate art, theater, music and the like just like we have eliminated dance. It is dangerous to set a precedent where science and math are the only two important subjects.
I think they should be used to make sure that kids have the knowledge they need for future education and real world issues.
No role as a child you stress espically little kids which all over the place and them themselves dont know how to do better or excel.
i dont think it should have a role at all because classes then become just practicing for these tests and it really doesnt help with learning
Standardized testing should not be one of the main factors to determine whether or not you are smart enough. When a student gets test results back they shouldn't be worried about whether or not they are going to graduate with those results. No one should be scared that they won't be able to succeed based on a test score. Usually, students worry more about how they will do on the test, rather than worrying about what's on the actual test itself. We shouldn't have to sit and wonder if we are good enough for our future.
standardized testing isnt fair, as there are some students with test anxiety who are forced to atake it
It makes it easier for teachers to evaluate students with the same criterion and for students to be consent to their grades.
I feel that standardized testing should be used especially in elementary schools because it allows teachers to see where the students are overall academically. Because they have such young growing minds, just starting out in school, these tests may help teachers focus in on what needs to be re-taught/re-discussed with students so they have better understanding or what does not need to have a large amount of time discussing again.
I believe there is a place for some standardized testing, but it cannot dictate an entire education system and funding process. I like the idea of intuitive tests that help to measure a students level of understanding and keep producing questions that specifically assess their current proficiency. They should be used to help teachers know what to teach and when, but should not be used as a measurement to scare and threaten teachers. We need some sort of testing to know if students are learning, but tests need to be reliable, valid, and results need to be interpreted.
As a 12 year old student myself, this is my opinion.
When standardized tests are used too much in elementary education, it has a disadvantage in developing creativity because young kids have the most interesting thoughts. Schools should give them enough chances for them to carry on those kinds of thoughts instead of only teaching math and science and so on. Knowledge can be learned during secondary and post-secondary education as well.
Therefore, I think during elementary education, students must be able to use their creativity, while during secondary and post-secondary education, students must study and learn and check themselves by standardized tests.
However, I hope that various testing methods will be used in schools, so that students will be able to develop not only their knowledge, but their critical thinking skills, communicating and cooperating skills as well.
In my view,those standardized testing in schools could be used to check themselves how much knowledge do students understand.So,I think it is important for students to take exams in schools.On the other hand,it also tells teachers which part is the most difficult.
Standardized tests would be more acceptable if used at the elementary level alone. It would help teachers see the weak areas of the students and attend to them. However, the test should help to discover these kids and not serve as a way of grading or telling their worth like most schools do here in ***********. Secondary and Post-secondary levels should embrace more of skill, creativity and intuition rather than standardized testing.
The role of standardized test in educations can test the students for their logical thinking. It helps the teachers to know either students are good at logical thinking or creative thinking. Teachers might also find a better way to teach students to help them improve. Standardized tests for schools are usually tested for new students' and teachers will have the idea of what the student's ability is.
The role of standardized testing in elementary, secondary and post-secondary education is to measure and evaluate how much the students have learned and sometimes measure score in relation with others test takers or evaluate against to set criteria.
What about elementary teachers who "teach to the test"? Are elementary students actually learning content if they are stressed and trying to impress their teacher or a school board?
I incline that in secoundary schools students are more creative.but, i think standardized tests might be counter productive in primary schools due to the pressure it causes to children , specialy that they are not prepared for these amount of stress.
Although I agree with your alternative suggestion in secoundary schools , but still removing the tests in secoundary schools doesnt seem productive.
Creativity as well as other important 21st century competencies simply cannot be measured using traditional assessment and evaluation methods. In his 2014 piece, Can imagination be measured? Mike Llewellyn argues that standardized tests offer no good predictions of post-secondary or career success. In his 2013 TED Talk, Sir Ken Robinson goes further, to suggest that the use of standardized testing can actually discourage creativity and disengage children from the processes of learning.
So I think that the standardized testing should not be used in elementary or secondary education. But it can be used sometimes in post-secondary education to choose the elites for the bosses.
I think it should be before every new grade except highschool
it is good for kids to remember things they need in life. so they should just use it in elementary school.
In these tests not all the skills are tested in a proper way. Teachers try to teach students how to score high rather than making them to learn more, think more. And students are most of the time under stress.
it must be able to find all weak areas.
standarized teting should remain for all students in all grades to better their education.
I think standardized testing should find out how good of a test taker you are.
I believe that standardized testing is a good predictor of future success. Standardized testing also consists not only of the SAT/ACT, but also things like the AP, IB, GED, TOEFL, etc. As a result, I believe that standardized testing is most important in high school, largely for college admissions decisions. Many colleges who have a large applicant pool rely on standardized testing as well as holistic reviews to determine a student's qualifications. Without standardized testing, it would be extremely hard to compare students accurately and large colleges are not able to afford to look at every single application in detail. Standardized testing also offsets grade inflation.
Even though standardized testing does have a few flaws, I believe that it is good to have. It can help identify students' weak and strong subjects and it is also a good and mostly reliable way to compare students and their abilities.
I think standardized testing is a good thing to have but shouldn't be the only thing determining someone's intelligence because sometimes people have off days and they might do really well one day and really bad another so sometimes it can be inaccurate.
Standardized testing should be used during these times only to determine where the kids are academically, to also see if the student needs to be tested in another way.
It would be a better proposal if you decide to apply it to all grades because there you have a more optimized scope of learning and all the information.
standardized testing should be used in our education in every way possible so the students can keep up with themselves more.
standardized testing should be made where people could understand it when they take it
The role of standardized testing in elementary, secondary and post-secondary education shouldn't be crucial, furthermore it has to be practiced rarely. Children are prone to constantly compare themselves with others, thus such kind of testing would lead to doubts and anxiety. Children should be focused on their own results, even sometimes competitive approach is suitable.
Standardized tests frequently feature in attempts to determine if, and how much, teachers and schools contribute to students' literacy development. standardized tests are used, including their key benefits and challenges.
I believe that standardized test should not be the only way to test people I believe that depending on the person depends on what they do let's say they do well in class work but bad with test they should be given an exception
To test students on what they dont know instead of what they dont know, if something is not widely understood than maybe it is to advanced or needs to be touched apon
I honestly think standardized testing is trying to see growth in knowledge.
The role of standardized testing any form or media like elementary, secondary, etc. should be to recognize or determine the ground or basic reliability or 'usefulness' of a group of people but not of a single person as a poorly chosen standardized test could tell us something that was not intended to be found like someone's cultural familiarity rather than their academic learning.
It should be used to remember everything you learned during elementary, secondary, and post-secondary education if you are prepared for university as well.
Even though standardized testing does have a few flaws, I believe that it is good to have. It can help identify students' weak and strong subjects and it is also a good and mostly reliable way to compare students and their abilities.
it measuring student achievement
Standardized testing is used by students to check themselves on mastering this knowledge. Sometimes, we thought that we have already mastered some knowledge. However, after testing, we will realize and react if we have overestimated our abilities. Therefore, students can use standardized testing as a tool to know their level of mastering on some particular things.
Taking in the points that standardised tests can be used to check knowledge and to notify teachers of gaps in knowledge, this can be done in ways with less stress, such as having a series of shorter tests at the end of each block of lessons discussing a particular topic. I personally believe that there should be less stress on tests especially in the earlier grades, where kids should be creative ans focus on projects and art more. As for the later grades, tests should be more focused upon but projects involving personal research should be used equally.