Standardized tests are multiple choice exams used to assess progress in schools and place students in suitable programs. They are cheap and quick but criticized for being biased, simplistic, and not measuring individual performance. High-stakes testing is also controversial as it can determine a student’s future without considering other factors.
The standardized tests take the form of a series of questions with multiple choice answers that can be filled in by thousands of participants at once and quickly scored using scanning machines. The test is designed to measure test takers against each other and a standard, and standardized tests are used to assess progress in schools, ability to attend higher education institutions, and to place students in suitable programs to their abilities. Many parents and educators have criticized standardized tests, arguing that they are not a fair measure of test-taker’s abilities and that standardized tests, especially high-stakes tests, should be minimized or abolished altogether.
Standardized tests can be on paper or on a computer. The candidate is given a question, statement or problem and is expected to select one of the choices below as an answer. Sometimes the answer is simple; When asked what two plus two is, a student selects “four” from the list of available answers. The answer isn’t always that clear-cut, as many tests include more theoretical questions, such as those involving a short passage the test taker is asked to read. The student is asked to choose the best available answer and, at the end of a pre-set period of time, answer sheets are collected and graded.
There are some advantages to standardized testing. They are cheap, very quick to evaluate, and allow analysts to look at a large sample of individuals. For this reason they are often used to measure a school’s progress, by comparing standardized test results with students from other schools. However, standardized tests are ultimately not a very good measure of individual student performance and intelligence, because the system is extremely simplistic. A standardized test can measure whether or not a student knows when Magna Carta was written, for example, but it cannot determine whether the student has absorbed and thought about the larger issues surrounding the historical document.
Studies of the standardized test format have suggested that many of them contain built-in cultural biases that make them inherently more difficult for children outside the culture of the test takers. Although most tests are analyzed for obvious biases and offensive terms, subconscious biases can never be completely eliminated. Additionally, critics have argued that standardized tests do not allow a student to demonstrate their skills in reasoning, deductive logic, critical thinking, and creativity. For this reason, some tests integrate short essays. These essays often receive only brief attention from the graders, who often vary widely in their opinion of how they think the essay should be graded.
Finally, many concerned parents and educators frown on the practice of high-risk testing. When a standardized test is used on its own to determine whether a student should advance through the ranks, graduate, or be admitted to school, this is known as a high-stakes test. Often, school accreditation or teacher promotion is based only on the outcome of standardized tests, an issue that seriously worries many people. Critics of high-stakes testing believe other factors should be taken into consideration when considering big issues including classroom performance, interviews, class work, and observations.
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