The standardized tests given to children in schools today are a lot different from those their parents might remember. For example, students today might take a standardized test at home on a laptop or other digital device. That test is more likely than before to incorporate content on diverse cultural heritages. And students taking a test may not […] … learn more→
Tag Archives: standardized tests
6 big changes in standardized tests – including less focus on grading students and more on learning
Going forth with standardized tests may cause more problems than it solves
Despite the many ways that COVID-19 has disrupted schools, the U.S. Department of Education will not give states a pass on giving standardized tests to students this year as it did in spring 2020. That’s according to new guidance the department issued Feb. 22. The guidance invites states to request waivers to shorten tests, give the tests in the […] … learn more→
If you thought colleges making the SAT optional would level the playing field, think again
When colleges and universities began to make the SAT an optional part of the admissions process, the hope was that it would expand access to the nation’s most selective institutions to groups that had historically been shut out. The reality is – at least at selective liberal arts colleges – the decision by a growing number of […] … learn more→
Standardized test bubble to pop?
“Fill in the bubble” tests have been a fact of life in our government-run school system for a generation or two now. I certainly remember taking them every few years, and then the biggie, the SAT, in my last year of high school. Like everything government-run (see also: vaccinations), the bureaucracy has imposed ever more […] … learn more→
Test scores are clear: US Higher Ed is weak
In our “public” school system, it’s all high stakes testing, all the time. To succeed as a teacher in that system, you need to be very good at teaching kids to take standardized tests, or so the teachers say. Even if this isn’t perfectly accurate, it’s still pretty clear that American children get plenty of […] … learn more→
Standardized tests are thermometers cooking turkeys
Standardized tests face much criticism from the public, and they should. Constantly stressing our kids with test after test after test after test is a bit much…neither parents nor kids like it much, and even the teachers don’t care for them beyond some minimal point. One of the most common criticisms is that teachers end […] … learn more→
Book Review: More than a Score
“Non-negotiable.” From Texas legislators adding new standardized tests to David Coleman defending his Common Core State Standards, that’s how education “reformers” present their changes. After all, they know better than we do. The problem with American education, they argue, is that too many constituencies have been involved in decision-making, from parents to teachers to school […] … learn more→
Why I hate standardized tests: A teacher’s take on how to save public education
In recent years, I have begun each semester by asking my first-year composition students two questions, one theoretical and the other practical. First, the theoretical question: What is the purpose of testing? Then the practical question: What happens to the information they study for a test after students have taken the test. My students’ answers […] … learn more→
The catastrophic consequences of repeatedly failing standardized tests
Aaron Barlow’s post on how our standardized testing is starting to suggest parallels to the civil service exams in Imperial China stuck a chord with me. So here is a post that is a tangent to his post, but it’s possible that the topic may be of as much interest to some others as it […] … learn more→
