The Pros and Cons of Standardized Testing

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“It’s awful. I just cringe every time I walk in the teacher’s room because these tests are the only topic of conservation in there, and it raises your anxiety just to hear how scared everybody is. A few years ago, I really loved teaching, but this is intense… I’m not sure how long I can take it “(Barksdale-Ladd, Thomas 390).

Two major classifications of standardized testing are norm-referenced and criterion-referenced testing. These two tests are the most frequently used and well known method of testing in the United States as well as numerous other countries in the world. The paper will go in detail about the history of standardized tests along with views from the testing companies, school administration, teachers, researchers, students, and parents.

History

Standardized tests have been a part of American education since the mid-1800s. Another form was seen in the late 1970s and early 1980s with a short-lived competency test (Linn 3). Horace Mann developed a test to administer to a group of students in the 1800s, his intentions were to make judgments about how the student was doing at their current level and determine if they would be capable of advancing to a higher level. Testing has changed in many ways since it first appeared with the beginning of public education led by Horace Mann. “The purposes of standardized testing have gone from an equalizer of opportunity to a tool of segregation used separate socio-economic status, wealth, and privilege” (Holmes 2).

Today testing is heavily relied on by school systems in the world. Testing was kicked into high gear in 2001, when the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) was created. The act was created to help schools meet 100% with all groups of students in America by the year ...

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...leting, 86 (631), 62-75.

Henry, P. (2007). The Case against Standardized Testing. Minnesota English Journal, p. 40-71.

Holmes, Sarah E. (2009). “Standardized Testing and the No Child Left Behind Act: A Failing Attempt at Reform“. English 1200. 12 December 2013.

Lee, L. (2010). What Did The Teachers Think? Teachers’ Responses to the use of value-added modeling as a tool for evaluating teacher effectiveness.

Linn, R.L. (2001). A Century of Standardized Testing: Controversies and Pendulum Swings. Educational Assessment, 7 (1), 29-38.

Mulvenon, S.W., Stegman C. E., & Ritter, G. (2005). Test Anxiety: A Multifaceted Study on the Perceptions of Teachers, Principals, Counselors, Students, and Parents. International Journal of Testing, 5 (1), 37-61.

Wiliam, D. (2010). Standardized Testing and School Accountability. Educational Psychologist, 45(2), 107-122.

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