Standardized Tests and Reading Assessments
Elementary, middle and high school students in the country are usually compelled to take at least one uniform and mandatory test during their academic life. This is what we are referring to as standardized tests. Many arguments have been advanced for and against the standardized tests as being an appropriate system of evaluating performance. Arguments from both sides seem very valid and thus it is prudent to say that the system should not be scrapped of but rather other systems should be developed to compliment its failures. This paper is going to analyze the standardized assessment system of evaluating students’ performance, its pros and cons and the possible alternative to it.
A standard assessment test is means of assessing students’ abilities and academic performance that is administered uniformly following set standards. It is the most common system of evaluating students’ performance in the country. This tests are usually administered Nation wide and it mainly involve answering multiple choice questions. There are many who oppose the standardized assessment system in favor of performance assessment. Performance assessment is a form of testing that involves a student in performing a task rather than selecting an answer from a ready-made list. For example a student may be asked to explain a scientific procedure, describe a historic event or solve a mathematical equation. Then the teacher goes a head and evaluates the student’s work based on a clear and agreed upon criteria. This method of assessment is also referred to as alternative or authentic assessment (Performance Assessment Office, 2010).
Unlike standardized testing, performance assessment requires students to demonstrate what they know and is a more valid indicator of students’ knowledge and abilities. A good performance assessment is established based on the curriculum and should include performance tasks that engage students in worth while learning activities (Sweat, 1998).Wiggins is one of the strong advocates for the performance assessment or authentic assessment system. According to Wiggins (1990) authentic assessment has various superior qualities over the standardized assessment. One quality is that in authentic assessment students’ performance is directly examined on worthy intellectual tasks and not the ability to memorize facts.
Secondly, authentic assessment requires students to be effective performers with acquired knowledge as it gives them opportunity to exercise what they have learnt. Authentic assessment also present the students with the full array of tasks that reflect on the priority and challenges found in the best instructional activities. Wiggins (1990) further argues that authentic assessment achieves validity and reliability by emphasizing and standardizing the appropriate criteria for scoring rather than standardizing the Item of scoring. According to him, authentic tasks involve ill structured challenges and roles that help students prepare for the complex ambiguities of adult and professional life.
Pros and Cons of Standardized tests
Many arguments have been advance for and against the standardized assessment system making it hard to make a verdict whether this system is good or bad. One aspect that has been argued in favor of the standardized testing is that it gives teachers guidance to help them determine what to teach to students and when to teach it. If individual assessment is involved each teacher would have his/ her way of teaching (Tompkins, 2010).
Standardized test also makes it easy for parent to asses their children academic performance as compared to other students across the country and locally. Through standardized tests it is easy to compare students’ performance and hence it will be easy for parents to know how their children are fairing compared to other students. National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) is a body charged with the responsibility analyzing and recording education progress in the country (NAEP, 2004) .
NAEP supports the standardized assessment system is it creates a level field for all students through which the progress in their performance can be compared and measured. Another positive aspect of the standardized system of assessment is that it allows students’ progress to be tracked over years (Rudner, L., Schafer, E., 2000). When student take the same type of test yearly it is easier to monitor over time whether a student is improving or loosing grounds. Since all students in a school are taking the same test, standardized test provide an accurate comparison across groups. This is important in identifying learning weaknesses among certain groups of students. Standardized tests are also highly accountable and reliable as they judge candidates on common platform across states and nation. Individual assessment would differ largely.
Rudner and Schafer (2000) in their article “Practical Assessment, Research and Evaluation” express their view that standardized assessment provides a level field for all students. The final positive aspect is that the tests are completely unbiased as the system involves use of computers in checking OMR sheets.
The standardized system also has a number of negative aspects. One of them is that it exerts immense pressure on students (Rudner, L., Schafer, E., 2000). Using this system students academic abilities are purely evaluated based on their performance in the tests which give students undue load of stress during the tests. The standardized system of assessment also results in large amount of time being dedicated to tests preparations leaving little time for learning, class discussions, critical thinking and other creative curriculum approaches.
Another argument against the standardized testing is that it hinders in-depth learning in school as teachers are forced to follow monotonous teaching methods to just complete the syllabus. Teacher no longer teach to impart knowledge but to satisfy the requirement of the tests. In addition the standardized system leads to unhealthy competition among schools as success of schools is rated through their performance in these standardized tests. Standardized assessments have also been accused of oversimplifying knowledge and do not test higher order of thinking. It is a mechanical way of judging students abilities as is based on students ability to memorize facts and does not display other facets of a student’s capabilities.
According to Wiggins (1980) the emphasis of accountability in the standardized system has removed human judgment making intellectual abilities to fall through cracks of conventional testing. Standardized tests also undervalue the sensitive interaction between teachers and their students (Rudner, L., Schafer, E., 2000). The duties of teachers have been reduced to that of drilling their students for the standardized tests. A national standardized, multiple-choice exam is likely to perpetuate sorting students by class and race (Ibid). The standardized assessment systems do not consider education opportunity provided for different classes and races of students and instead evaluates all of them uniformly. This is likely to confuse lack of ability with lack of opportunity and exposure.
The Portfolio
One of the performance related assessment that is increasingly becoming popular is the portfolio. The portfolio includes an organized compilation of academic work that the student has done(Sweet, D. 1993). This collection of academic work exhibits the student’s efforts, progress and achievements in one or more area of the curriculum. A student carefully picks each piece of work chosen to be in the portfolio based on purpose and progress. The student can select his / her academic work to include journal entries, reports, poetry, test results, art, self-assessments, and videotapes. The teacher chooses the work which best demonstrates student’s ability and achievements. Portfolios have both strengths and weaknesses.
Strengths include that it focuses upon students’ learning based on performance as well as acquisition of skills. It is also a continuous and ongoing process unlike a standardized test which may come once. The port folio is multi dimensional in that it focuses on different aspects of students’ learning. Portfolios also allow students to reflect on their own academic work and to think decisively. Through portfolios a way to show students their progress is set up and also shows students what they need to improve in. The only disadvantages with portfolios are: they are time consuming; reliability is lower than standardized tests; and their use is on the expensive side as well.
In conclusion, this paper has attempted to analyze the features of the standardized system of assessing students’ performance and its major advantages and disadvantages. The paper has discussed other approaches that may be used in assessing students’ performance, mainly the performance assessment system. In summery, the standardized assessment system has its own advantages and disadvantages and it will not be prudent to say that it should be done away with. What needs to be done is to develop other performance assessment systems that will compliment the standardized tests.
References
Iowa Testing Programs, (2006), Iowa test of basic skills, retrieved on October 4, 2010, from The University of Iowa, College of Education, from http://www.education.uiowa.edu/itp/itbs/Default.aspx
NationalCenter for Educational Statistics (2004), National assessment of educational progress, date retrieved October 4, 2010, from http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/
Rudner, L. M., Schafer, E., (Ed.). (2000). Practical Assessment, Research and EvaluationERIC Review, 6(1-14), 59pp
Sweet, D. (1993, September), Performance assessment, Office of Education Research Consumer Guide, 2, date retrieved October 4, 2010, from http://www.ed.gov/pubs/OR/ConsumerGuides/perfasse.html
Tompkins, G. (2010). Literacy for the 21st century: A balanced approach (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill/Prentice Hall. (Chapter 3)
Wiggins G (1990), The case for authentic assessment, ERIC Digest, Washington, DC: ERIC Clearinghouse on Languages and Linguistics
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