All American states are required to test students in public schools to ensure that they are receiving the desired level of minimal education due to the No Child Left Behind Act. Examples of these tests would be the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) and Indiana Statewide Testing for Educational Progress-Plus (ISTEP+). The No Child Left Behind Act also requires that students show an adequate amount of yearly progress. If this progress is not shown, it is mandated that the student gains remediation through summer school or tutoring. In high school, standardized tests are given to students based on their post-secondary educational plans. The SAT and ACT are the most common standardized tests. The SAT and ACT are given to college-bound …show more content…
students. Students can take the SAT, ACT, or both, depending on the colleges or universities the student is considering applying to for admission. Competitive schools may also require SAT Subject Tests (SAT IIs), which are shorter tests that are based on one particular subject. However, these tests are essentially useless for those students who do not plan to attend any post-secondary schooling, as not taking these tests do not affect graduation requirements (Education in the United States). The SAT is widely used for college admissions in the United States.
The SAT takes approximately 3 hours and 45 minutes to complete. Scores on the SAT can range from 600 to 2400. The test itself consists of three 800 point sections: mathematics, critical reading, and writing. College Board, the developer and administrator of the SAT test, have stated the SAT does not test logic or abstract reasoning. The test measures literary and writing skills that will later be needed for academic success in college. Scores from each section of the test can range from 200-800. All scores are multiples of 10. The total score from the test is acquired from totaling up the scores from each section of the test. The questions range from easy, medium, and hard levels. The easy questions begin at the beginning of the section and gain difficulty. The critical reading section includes two 25-minute sessions and one 20-minute session and include questions regarding sentence completion and reading comprehension from both long and short reading passages. The mathematics section is composed of two 25-minute sessions and one 20-minute session as well. One of the 25-minute sessions consists of 20 multiple choice questions. The remaining 25-minute session contains 8 multiple choice questions and 10 grid-in questions. The 20-minute session consists of 16 multiple choice questions. Common topics involved in the mathematics portion include geometry, scatter plots, and algebra I and II …show more content…
(SAT). The ACT, an abbreviation of American College Testing, is a standardized test for high school achievement and college admissions in the United States.
The ACT is composed of four tests: English, mathematics, social studies, and natural sciences. The ACT takes approximately 3 hours and 25 minutes in total. The ACT is divided into four multiple choice sections. The English, mathematics, and reading tests have subscores which can range from 1-18. Composite test scores can range from a 1-36. The composite score is the average of all four tests. Students can also take an optional writing section. The writing portion consists of a writing score ranging from 2-12, a combined reading/writing score ranging from 1-36, and 1-4 comments on the essay from the essay scores. On the ACT, each question answered correctly is worth one point. Unlike the SAT, there are no penalties for incorrect answers on the multiple-choice portion of the test. This means that students can answer all questions on the multiple-choice portion of the test without suffering a decreased score for incorrect answers. The English portion of the ACT is a 45-minute test covering usage/mechanics and rhetorical skills. The 75 question test is composed of five passages with various sections underlined on one side of the page and options to correct the underlined problem on the other side. Issues addressed in this test include commas, apostrophes, modifiers (misplaced/dangling), colons, fragments/run-ons, clarity and
brevity style, strategy, transitions, and organization. The mathematics section is a 60-minute 60 question test composed of a certain number of questions per subject, as follows: 14 pre-algebra, 10 elementary algebra, 9 intermediate algebra, 14 plane geometry, 9 coordinate geometry, and 4 elementary trigonometry. This is the only section in the test that has five answer options as opposed to four. Calculators are permitted; however, the calculator requirements are stricter than those used in SAT tests. The reading section consists of four ten-question passages in which students are given 35 minutes to complete the test. The subject areas include prose, humanities, social science, and natural science. The science reasoning test is a 35 minute 40-question test. There are seven passages which are followed by five to seven questions. There are three data representation passages followed by five questions, three research summary passages followed by six questions each, and one conflicting viewpoints passage with seven questions. The optional writing section is always administered last and lasts 30 minutes. The essays are written in response to a prompt, which is usually based off of a social issue applicable to high school students. Despite the writing section being optional, several schools require an essay score and factor it into admissions decisions. Standardized testing has its advantages and disadvantages. Realistically speaking, the advantages of standardized testing outweighs its disadvantages. Standardized testing is practical and easy and quick to administer. In addition to this, standardized tests are also very quantifiable and allow educators to identify proficiency levels easier as well as identify students who may need remediation or advancement. Standardized tests are also scored via computer which frees up more time for educators and due to this, eliminates objectionable scoring and subjects educator bias or emotions. Educators can also compare scores to students within the same schools as well as across different schools. This provides more information on schools as a whole as opposed to individual students and makes it easier to identify school-wide strengths and weaknesses. One last additional advantage to standardized testing is the longitudinal report of student progress and allows educators to see trends of growth or decline which provides a faster response time for educational needs. However, standardized testing is not parallel with typical classroom behavior and skills. Most items only assess general knowledge and understanding. Due to this, educators cannot use results from standardized tests to inform their own individual instruction methods. Standardized tests also do not test higher-level thinking skills and are greatly influential by non-academic factors such as fatigue and attention (Standardized Tests in Education: Advantages and Disadvantages).
Michele Obama once stated, “If my future were determined just by my performance on a standardized test, I wouldn 't be here. I guarantee you that.” The First Lady is, in other words, to say that standardized testing was a major factor into her life’s outcome and her scores could have potentially not put her in her position of power that she is highly recognized in today’s society. Although standardized tests do play a large role in any college application, standardized testing may not count as much toward one’s college admissions or success because standardized tests are not the only factor toward college applications, these tests only benefit a specific target group of people, and standardized tests are better used for giving insight on one’s
3. COMPASS test with a minimum score of 25 on Pre-Algebra/Numerical, 62 on Reading, and 32 on Writing, all completed in one test session, or
“Students are taking between ten and twenty standardized tests, depending on the grade. A total average of one hundred thirteen different ones by graduation.”(Locker) A few years ago the United States, along with other nations, was given a test to assess the academic strengths and weaknesses of each nation and rank them accordingly. When the results were released and the United States was ranked near the bottom, it was decided to start incorporating more testing through school. Between benchmark, TLI, PARCC, and common core standards, teaching technique was forced to change. Standardized testing has had a negative effect on teachers and students, implementing inadequate grading standards and the common core curriculum, such testing has made
Even with material being taught incessantly, standardized tests can not accurately measure a student’s ability. The tests are “single-target—meaning that every student, no matter what level of achievement or ability, course selection, or cu...
The current education system implemented by most schools measures a student’s progress using two methods: letter grades and standardized tests. However, the pressure put on students to achieve high grades causes standardized tests to be overlooked throughout the school year. Because of this, students enter tests with false hopes of scoring well when in reality they are severely underprepared. Honor roll students with perfect GPA’s can score in the average percentile if they are not adequately exposed to the test material. Schools should put a larger emphasis on preparation for standardized tests so students will be better equipped to take these tests and receive a score that more accurately reflects their knowledge.
Imagine walking into school on day one of the Transitional Colorado Assessment Program, or better known as TCAP. You are rushed to your proctor’s room. This is just day one of the six long grueling test days. The school board is counting on you to score high enough to reflect positively on your school district. Each session will last up to sixty minutes with just enough time for most students to finish. There are usually three sessions per day. For most students, this process is one which is dreaded with each coming year. TCAP results are scored by advanced, proficient, partially proficient, or unsatisfactory (Time4Learning). The TCAP tests students from 3rd through 10th grade. This test happens the same time each year. There are four different tests that constitute the TCAP: reading, writing, math, and for the 5th, 8th, and 10th grades science.
Do you like being bombarded with the stress of having to take so many tests? In 1845 the US brought standardized testing in the subjects spelling, geography, and math into public schools (Standardized Testing 1). Standardized tests were made to swiftly assess students abilities (Standardized Testing 1). The No Child Left Behind Act in 2002 mandated testing in all 50 states. In the article, “Standardized Tests,” it states that “US students slipped from 18th in the world in math in 2000 to 31st place in 2009, with a similar decline in science and no change in reading” (Use of Standardized Tests 5). Blame of the decline in rates are on poverty levels, teacher quality, tenure policies, and increasingly on the pervasive use
“Standardized testing has become the arbiter of social mobility, yet there is more regulation of the food we feed our pets that of the tests we give our kids ” (Robert Schaeffer quotes)
Standardized testing is a down fall to many students but also an opportunity for many others. Standardized testing has its pros and its cons. It can be the make it or break it factor into getting into colleges you are hoping to attend or the scholarships you want to earn. Some people may have their opinions about the test, whether they hate it or not but the fact is that it’s here to stay.
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.
Almost every person who has graduated from high school has taken the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT), which is generally used for college admissions. We all remember the stress of taking a test that could affect our future educational plans. Now due to the “No Child Left Behind Act” of 2001, this kind of test is now being administered to children from the 3rd to 8th grades as a way to determine if the school or teachers are educating them properly. High-stakes standardized tests of this nature should not be used to determine the educational abilities of either schools or the teachers.
As in an incoming freshman in high school, not only was I introduced to standardized test but my fellow classmates as well. Standardized test is any form of a test that requires all test takers to answer the same questions or a selection of questions from common bank of questions, which is also scored in a standard or consistent manner. These particular test are given at the end of each school year to the particular students who are enrolled in the the classes of the given test. The standardized test include Algebra I, Biology I, English, and History.We also found out that in order for anyone to graduate those particular test had to passed if not you were not eligible to graduate. However, out of all four test History was the most difficult for students to pass as well as myself. This test in particular was known for being the hardest test to pass. Since the test was so hard to pass we were introduced to that one class specifically History our ninth grade year so that we could take the test for the first time at the end of our freshman year. Not all students had problems passing you had some pass all four on their first try, but then you had the other set of students who could not pass which hindered many from graduating. In the end I do not believe that
One of the biggest topics in the educational world is standardized tests. All fifty states have their own standards following the common core curriculum. There are many positives and negatives that go with the standardized tests. A standardized test is any type of “examination that's administered and scored in a predetermined, standard manner” (Popham, 1999). These standardized tests are either aptitude tests or achievement tests. Schools use achievement tests to compare students.
Standardized testing in the United States is not always a common practice. In the Mid-1800s, Horace Mann, an education reformist, developed a test to administer to a group of students. Its purpose was to determine how students were performing at their current level and whether they were capable of proceeding to a higher level of education, although the student’s success on the test had no negative repercussions. These tests were a necessity at that time because the idea of public education was still being molded and these tests were the only means by which student progress could be measured. Within 35 years of the first recorded examination in 1845, testing became the factor which determined whether students were able to be promoted to the next grade.
High-stakes testing is for the cookie cutter student not the unique individual student. High stakes testing was started in 1905 by French psychologist Alfred Binet. He began developing a standardized test of intelligence which was named Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test. During World War I, standardized testing was standard practice, it was how U.S. servicemen jobs were divided and assigned. Years passed and the first test to come into play was the SAT, it was founded in 1926 as the Scholastic Aptitude Test by the College Board. Years passed again in 1959 and to compete against the SATs, the ACT (American College Testing) were created. The test was made up of questions that geared students to a course of study by asking about their interests. In addition to math, reading and English skills, the ACT assesses students on their knowledge of scientific facts and principles. These tests have become just geared toward college as the decades went by. Decades past and new tests came were created, in 1980 the Texas Assessment of Basic Skills (TABS), 1984 the Texas Educational Assessment of Minimum Skills (TEAMS), 1991 the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills