Standardized Tests

2 Pages 614 Words

In 1957 Americans watched stunned as the Soviet Union successfully launched their space craft Sputnik. The “space race” had been won by the Soviets leaving the Americans with one question, how could we have lost? The answer to this question lied in the school systems and if they were really pushing the kids to their full potential. This got educators and politicians to start thinking about changing the curriculums. It was a gradual change at first, just in the science and math programs, with arts and social studies being pushed into the background. It wasn’t until the late 1960’s and 1970’s that arts and social sciences made a comeback, at the at the expense of science and math. Over the past 20 years, the focus has swung back and forth between the math and sciences and the liberal arts. Parents today are now demanding schools the give a quality product. Standardize testing helps parents and school districts determine how well a child is doing and guide them to their highest potential.
Parents and politicians look to the schools to be responsible for student learning and the schools are holding the students accountable for their learning. The schools can do this by administering standardized tests. A type of test is a norm-referenced test. This is one that evaluated a student’s progress. Before standardized testing, teachers were the ones analyzing students. This caused several problems with the teacher knowing the child and knowing their strengths and weaknesses. Teachers could work with the students who did not do well on tests and give them alternate assignments so that they could succeed. This did not accurately show how children were doing in schools because of the special attention. Standardized tests are tests with the ability to test large groups of students on the same level as kids all over.
Tests are first given to a “sample” group of children and from there do test makers develop their c...