What Should be Done About Standardized Tests?

The question: Should there be less standardized testing in the current school system, or more? Should all schools, including colleges, institute exit exams?

The answer: Yes.

It should be that easy, right?

The gentlemen quoted in this article all give the right answers to these questions, but all of them lack a method to figuring out how to go about it. Popham says, "Standardized tests can be written that accurately measure a school's instructional effectiveness...", but how? Does it become the responsibility of the school to individually measure its students by creating its own standardized tests? That is what my school does, but I have yet to see that data unequivocally states that this is the most effective method. My school also does not assess any midterms or finals, so think about that, too.

Zemsky's questions regarding standardized testing is very crucial. He questions who is being tested, the teacher or the student? What is being tested: the material learned of the teacher's method of teaching it? Again, vital questions to ask, but what is the best method? He does make a point of saying how the tests simply measure who the best test-takers are.

Toch makes the most significant statement regarding these tests and bias when he mentions NCLB's consequences for schools that fail to make progress with "the poor, students of color, English language learners, and the disabled." For years, this has been my most significant criticism of the HSPAs: its unfairness to ESL students. I would have a student who was in my classroom for a month, recently transplanted from another country, who would be forced to take the HSPA. How fair is that? We basically set him up for failure. Toch also goes on to say the skills being tested are lower level skills and legislators fear of raising the bar because it may lead to more kids failing.

Neill has the most significant statement in the whole article: "High school grade point average is a better predictor of college success than either the SAT or the ACT." Enough said.

And finally, we end withe Caperton of The College Board, who inundates us with his propaganda, who basically reverses Neill's opinion: "The SAT, in combination with the grade point average, provides students, parents and admissions counselors with the best predictor or academic success in college."

I got a 990 on the SATs. OK, not proud of it. (There are extenuating circumstances, as always...) I only took it once, because I knew I was going to CCM for two years, and then transferring. My GPA in high school was a 3.4...in college, it was a 3.6, and I graduated with honors. Of course, I'm only one person, but my two cents says SATs and other standardized tests are not the way to go.