For centuries, assessments have been used to determine student knowledge level and understanding. In recent years, testing has become a major topic of debate; some believe testing students is the best way to measure student growth and performance, as well as teacher effectiveness. From the other perspective, some believe that increased standardized testing lacks validity and reliability. Quite often, other elements are not considered such as students with learning disabilities, students with varying socioeconomic status and race, and students testing in their second language. Assessments taken by students with a different first language encounter several issues in addition to language tests such as the TOEFL test or placement tests. It is questioned …show more content…
Validity applies to whether a test is measuring what it is supposed to measure, meaning a test for reading comprehension isn’t actually measuring listening abilities. There are three different forms of validity that further address the assessment: face validity, content validity, and criterion-related validity. Face validity refers to whether the test appears like that type of assessment should, content validity makes sure the questions apply, and criterion-related validity compares the test with outside criteria. Major standardized tests such as the TOEFL and IELTS are often considered valid, but many disagree as there can always be issues when building the test. Reliability is another contested element of assessment. Reliability assumes that a test will produce the same scores when given to the same group of people. With standardized test, reliability is more difficult to ensure because test questions can be biased, testing conditions can vary, and the students’ mental condition can be different. These elements can skew results, which is why many are frowning upon standardized assessments and looking further into test development or other non-standardized testing …show more content…
Test developers have to be sure that test questions do not contain any type of bias. This can be extra difficult when considering those who do not have English as a first language. While some questions and answers could seem fairly straightforward, many can pose a problem to those from other countries that have differing traditions, customs, and values. Traditionally, assessment creators have followed a certain structure to help them create the materials. This included writing the skill, writing the specification, writing the item, assembling the test, and piloting the test while gaining critical feedback throughout the process (Coombe et al. 2012). While straightforward, several problems arose when trying to use this method for language testing. One single test specification can produce multiple questions on multiple assessments, but the writers are often restricted to a certain type or format of question. When looking at language learners, this model did not accurately represent the desired outcome of language programs. It is questioned whether the test items accurately reflect the desired objective from the test creator and the language teacher. Test security also becomes an issue. It creates a catch-22 in that to make the test items more accurate more people should provide feedback, but the more people that view the test, the less secure it becomes. It is
According to Fyona Rose, “Not only do these tests belittle students' and teachers' hard work, they also leave them with negative feelings toward school and drain their love of learning” (Rose, 2015). This means that standardized testing can ruin the enjoyment of learning for both students and teachers. The reason standardized testing still happens is because it has become a standard for schools each year. But if the standard is bad something should be changed. Many who do not like standardized testing to do not believe that testing should be done away with, but rather be changed to accommodate the growing needs of society as a
The lack of appropriate assessment strategies unfairly puts cultural and language diverse students at a disadvantage. These types of tests are geared towards assessing the majority of the population, not the minority. This poses a serious problem when trying to correctly identify students who may have learning or behavioral problems (Ralabate, & Klotz, 2007).
Validity refers to ability of an instrument to measure the test scores appropriately, meaningfully, and usefully (Polit& Beck, 2010). The instrument has been developed to serve three major functions: (1) to represent a specific universe of content, (2) to represent measurement of specific psychological attributes, (3) to represent the establishing of a relationship with a particular criterion. There are three types of validity; each type represents a response to one of three functions
In the society of today, there are various educators who believe in assessment as proper method to measure the performance of a child in school as well as the overall achievement of a specific school system. The assessment may be presented in the form of verbal, written, or multiple choice, and it usually pertains to certain academic subjects in the school curriculum. Recently, many educators began to issue standardized tests to measure the intelligence of a common student body. (Rudner, 1989) These standardized tests were initially created to reveal the success in institutional school programs, and exhibit the abilities of students today. The standardized tests can reveal the strengths and weaknesses of a student as well as the admission into certain programs. The test results also assist various schools in determining the proper curriculum, evaluate a specific school system, or a particular school related program.
Although there have been legitimate arguments supporting the benefits of standardized testing, such as their ability to successfully measure students’ proficiency, in recent years there have been concerns and disadvantages regarding how their misuse poses a serious threat to the American education system. Despite the belief that standardized tests should be used to measure students’ proficiency, there are more reasons outweighing this statement regarding why they shouldn’t be used for this purpose. Not only is this a particular issue with standardized testing, but the tests are becoming more high stakes and are being used unfairly to determine things such as graduation, or placement in a school, resulting in a significant amount of stress and anxiety in students. Testing corporations are also profiting from the design of these standardized tests, while standardized testing is also forcing teachers to all teach the same thing, leading to a lack of creativity in the students. Aside from these arguments, standardized tests have been found to be becoming flawed and have poor design.
-The test consists of multiple choice questions on content area. Written responses are also used. Labs are used
The purposes of assessing special education students are to determine their progress in achieving annual goals and short-term objectives. Assessment also provides diagnostic information for instructional decision making decisions. In recent years, formal and standardized tests have been criticized for their inability to integrate assessment and teaching. Teachers know that the students are learning; however, they do not know the extent of learning. Standardized tests typically measure a small amount of grade-level skills. Also, standardized tests stress factual information; thereby, forcing teachers to teach to the test. For example, they evaluate writing skills by asking grammar questions rather than having the students write a story. Since standardized tests, do not measure an individual student’s knowledge, the impact on students with exceptional needs can be harmful. This dissatisfaction has forced educators to look at different forms of assessment in order to provide information about student learning and achievement.
Standardized testing has become a dominant element in the education world. It is now used not only to judge a student’s knowledge but to judge the effectiveness of a school system’s teaching. Standardized testing is not an accurate or efficient way to judge a student’s intelligence or a school system’s instructional abilities.
The issue of standardized testing has been a highly debated issue in the United States for many years and shows no sign of being resolved any time soon. The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001 was an effort to standardize and improve our education system, but 13 years later it is still in shambles. While many people agree there is a need for some sort of measure for quality education, there is much disagreement about the effectiveness of standardized tests. Some even say federal programs like No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top have gone too far in using test scores to evaluate teachers (Gordon 2013). Unfavorable results from these tests seem to generate more punitive consequences for the teachers and schools than help for the students. The words “high-stakes” are used often in numerous sources to describe the current testing system and refer to decisions that will make a significant impact on both students and teachers. These decisions include repeating a grade or not receiving a diploma for the student and possible loss of a job for the teacher. Standardized testing is an ineffective and expensive way to measure student achievement.
Throughout the United States standardized testing is a popular way that educators measure a student’s academic ability. Although it may seem like a good idea to give a bunch of students the same test and see how each one does, it is not that simple. The results do not represent how smart a student is or a student's potential to do great things in the real world. In taking a standardized test one student may have a greater advantage over another for many reasons. Reasons that are not shown in the standardized test score.
Standardized testing is not an effective way to test the skills and abilities of today’s students. Standardized tests do not reveal what a student actually understands and learns, but instead only prove how well a student can do on a generic test. Schools have an obligation to prepare students for life, and with the power standardized tests have today, students are being cheated out of a proper, valuable education and forced to prepare and improve their test skills. Too much time, energy, and pressure to succeed are being devoted to standardized tests. Standardized testing, as it is being used presently, is a flawed way of testing the skills of today’s students.
Standardized testing remains to be a major controversial issue for the American society today. Exams are given to students at different levels in their educational career and are supposed to measure their academic knowledge, but are these tests really the best way to evaluate students? There have been numerous alternatives suggested to replace or be used in conjunction with standardized testing.
Cohen et al. (2010) wrote that assessment can be a major contributor to raising standards in schools in terms of teaching, learning and student achievement. In addition, if assessment is properly handled with consistency, reliability, validity and rigour, it can have a possitive effect on learning and can improve students' own understanding of how can they learn more effectively and improve.
Reliability (extent to which a test yields consistent results, as assessed by the consistency of scores on two halves of the test, on alternate forms of the test or on retesting)- Comparing test scores to those of the standardizing group still won't tell us much about the individual unless the test has reliability. Validity is the most important requirement of all. A test must actually measure what it is intended to measure. Content validity-the extent to which a test samples the behavior that is of interest and Predictive validity- the success with which a test predicts behavior it is designed to predict.
A well created test can measure learning and diagnose a student’s weakness (Merrow, 4). In testing, the idea is for the student to get the correct answer on information they know and incorrect answers on the information they do not. However, a testing error may occur. A testing error is when a student gets an answer correct of information they did not actually know or an answer incorrect, they may have actually known (Gellman, 30)The people who create these tests want straightforward measures. However, test designers do not design these tests to measure what a student can do academically (Fusaro, 1). Large testing companies produce tests and sell them all over the country. This causes the test to be not specialized for the school or county and students do not do as well as they could have if the test was specialized (Popham, 4).three possible ways of testing a student’s knowledge exists: multiple choices, answer in essay form, or they are asked to perform a task and then graded on the performance (Merrow, 5). Some tests are designed to assess an individual’s performance, like an