Belcher (1985) maintained that test score reflects both the knowledge and aptitude of test takers and the ability of using the characteristics and format of test effectively (as cited in Pour-Mohammadi and Zainol Abidin 2012).
Popham & Madaus (1987) and Romberg, Williams, Zarrinnia (1989) defined testing as high stakes, because they influence both local and state administrators’ decisions about curriculum, appropriate programs, learners’ promotion (as cited in Herman, Dreyfus, Golan 1990). Pour-Mohammadi and Zainol Abidin (2012) noted that students’ ability is not the only criterion in their performance in tests.
Hambleton, Swaminathan and Rogers (1991) mentioned that Some Cognitive and psychological factors also affect their performance, and test-taking strategies which are also known as test-wiseness are regarded as significant test related factors that affect learners’ perfgormance , and based on Dodeen (2009) these factors and strategies increases the validity of tests ( as cited in Pour-Mohammadi and Zainol Abidin 2012). Anderson( 2001) and Bachman (2000) stated that considering cognitive processes is going to become one of the significant factors for language testers(as cited in Amer 2007).
Teachers try to help learners to do well in tests by many ways, and test taking strategies can be regarded as one of these ways. Cohen and Upton (2007) define test-wiseness as processes of test-taking which test-takers consciously select and apply while taking the test (as cited in Pour-Mohammadi and Zainol Abidin 2012).
According to Beidel, Turner, Ferreira (1999) test taking strategies can be defined as ways which are applied for the purpose of improving learners’ and test takers’ ability to deal with testing procedures more easily...
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...stigated the effect of test strategies on learners reading comprehension tests, and they found not only these strategies help respondents to get a better test score or have greater achievement, it additionally solve the other aspect of their problem which deals with the anxiety they have while taking the test. They also mentioned that teachers become more interested and persuaded to instructions to test-taking strategies to their regular English classes so that their students may become testwise in a testing situation. The mentioned researchers found that without considering the context of the test, learner can have a better performance based on the learn strategies (as cited in Goudarzi and Ghonsooly 2014). “When achievement test scores are influenced by test anxiety, especially for subgroups of students, the scores will be biased” (Wren and Benson, 2004, p.228).
Standardized testing is not a new concept; it has been in use since the mid to late 1990’s. However the “high stakes” focus on standardized testing is. The practices that accompany standardized testing have long been in debate. Those in favor of standardized testing will argue that the testing creates a system that increases grades and accountability among teachers, students and school districts across the country. On the other hand those that oppose standardized testing will argue the ill effects that standardized testing can have on students, teachers, and schools. There are numerous ways in which standardized testing has gravely impacted education, some of which are high stress levels of students and teachers, the hindrance on educational instruction, high monetary costs of testing as well as inadvertent discrimination and bias. Senator Paul Wellstone of Minnesota stated “Far from improving education, high-stakes testing marks a major retreat from fairness, from accuracy, from quality and from equity.”
My greatest area of strength in assessment literacy is during the test administration, because I believe I do a wonderful job providing directions for the students, I monitor students and watch them to make sure they are not cheating with each other, and I make sure the testing environment is conducive to high achievement. When my tests are distributed to my students, I make sure to read the directions of each section of the students and ask my students if they need any more clarification on the section directions. If students forget the directions while the test is taking place, I make it a point to clarify for them in private and then announce to the class a reminder for each section. This usually happens when I monitor my students during the testing session. I make sure that I am visible and mobile inside my classroom. I want my students to do well on tests and gain confidence that they understand the concepts being tested, but I want my students to be self-motivated and self-reliant and to not look to their partners for the answers.
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.
By giving students the ability to choose the technique in which they take their tests, professors are giving them more confidence which increases productivity. A vast majority of professors use short and/or long answer test; however, this can be damaging too many of their students’ scores. Pink gives the example of Zappos founder Tony Hsieh who gives his employees the autonomy to work without scripts, monitoring, or timing (101). The problem with how professors are giving test is that not all students can work to their best ability in short and/or long answer test. Pinks concept is to give people the ability to choose the method that best fits them so they can produce their best results. For example, Student 1 has the best result on tests when they are multiple choice; however, student 2 has the best result when the test are oral. Professors do not want their students to ...
Students should not have to take a test just to enter in to college because students are more than a test score, they are people too. Why are students compared with a test score that – more often than not - does not reflect their academic ability? These tests are biased because people write the questions and, therefore, they can make the question wordy and choose which ones to omit (Pollard). These test do not measure a person’s intelligence; rather, their test taking ability. As proof, the ACT science portion of the test do not pertain to science knowledge at all; rather, it ...
As child growing up some of the frightful memories include a visit to the dentist; an evil man with scary drill whose solve purpose is to hurt you or the first day in elementary school you finally leave all behind the cozy classrooms and nap times of kindergarten and enter the big leagues. All of these are considered a cakewalk compared to standardize testing. Since the start of elementary school students in the United States are taught to test. In many instances students are held back or placed in remedial classes because of lower grades. But many don’t realize that some students are not great at testing taking and because of the lower grades some educators believe that these students are lower achievers. This leads to lower self-esteem and encourage students to drop out in later years. Also students are forced to memorize information merely as facts without sparking their creativity or enhancing their knowledge.
The test taking lessons have helped me learn more about having good strategies for a test. I feel that with these lessons learned I can have more confidence to take a test and pass it. In this report I want to show why test taking is an important skill to learn. I also wanted to describe how I have prepared for test in the past. I also wanted to discuss three strategies I have learned from the computer tutorial in class and how I have changed my study habits so I can do better on test.
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
“If my future were determined just by my performance on a standardized test, I wouldn't be here. I guarantee you that.” This quote by Michelle Obama illustrates the idea that standardized testing should not have such a large influence on education in America. However, a majority of people are under the impression that standardized tests are an accurate method to measure a person's intellectual ability. I believe that standardized tests have developed into a very critical part of the American education system; that is hindering the growth of students and teachers instead of providing a tool that can accurately measure knowledge.
The overall purpose of schooling is to advance one’s knowledge and skill base and through standardized testing the belief is that one’s knowledge and skill base can be assessed and analyzed, but what occurs many a times is a teacher's difficulty to expand upon the learning process due to the confinements that testing has on his/hers ability to teach. In a qualitative study performed by the Morehead State University it was determined that in a particular rural school standardized testing had implemented a limit on the amount of time that teachers were able to instruct, as well as limitations on the “instructional resources and the types of assessments teachers employed” (Thomas, 2005). Even if a teacher was content with teaching the state
Understanding the difference between assessment and testing. (2008, January 2). The Faculty Center. Retrieved May 4, 2014, from http://facultycenter.stonybrook.edu/articles/understanding-difference-between-assessment-and-testing
Based on the Programme for International Student Assessment’s 2012 results (PISA), the United States has ranked 30th in comparison to other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) participating countries. The United States, a country that has once held the ideal for educational standards, has now ranked just slightly above other countries that are just being developed. By using high-stakes test statistics to drive America’s educational standards, classrooms are beginning to lose their meaning of helping students to learn and grow as individuals. Because of classrooms just teaching the test are beginning to lose the meaning of helping students to learn and grow as individuals, results of high stakes testing which can be affected by the minutest details, are not a reasonable way to judge overall student competency; a better alternative would be by performance based assessments. “Test developers are obliged to create a series of one-size-fits-all assessments. But, as most of us know from attempting to wear one-size-fits-all garments, sometimes one size really can’t fit all.” (Popham, James W.). High stakes tests are not a reasonable way to judge overall student competency because educators can not expect to have accurate and precise results in just one sitting for 12 years of learning. Although tests pose an important role in education, they should not be given such high stakes of determining if a student should be rejected from a college “based solely on the fact that their score wasn’t high enough” (Stake, Robert.).
always know what these students will need to know for these tests. These teachers have to prepare to supply all the material to the students that they will ne...
Testing is one of the big issues in our education system. The idea that the whole school curriculum should be planned around tests is a foolish one, if we want to get a quality education that we can actually learn something valuable from. Having students cram empty facts and memorize test answers is not teaching them it is just encouraging more stress and late nights. On some occasions, tests are a necessary evil to see if the student has actually learned anything from what they have been taught, but to gear the whole class a...
Designing test specifications: The second step involved in constructing a test is to clearly state test specifications. The components that would make the construct we are attempting to assess need to be stated in specific terms. Reading comprehension ability was defined as the ability to understand short and long pieces of unfamiliar passages ranging from 20 to 350 words in English and to answer multiple choice questions correctly. It was decided that identifying main idea, recognising supporting details, guessing meaning from context, inferencing, understanding connection of ideas and locating information are the components for