1 / 8

Arguments for Standardized Testing

Arguments for Standardized Testing. By: Barbara Barnes. Do we need high-stakes testing?. How do you feel about high-stakes testing?. How Should Student Learning and Achievement Be Measured?. Tests Student grades Teacher evaluations

levana
Download Presentation

Arguments for Standardized Testing

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. Arguments for Standardized Testing By: Barbara Barnes

  2. Do we need high-stakes testing? How do you feel about high-stakes testing?

  3. How Should Student Learning and Achievement Be Measured? • Tests • Student grades • Teacher evaluations • Tests, when used properly, are among the most sound and objective ways to measure student performance.

  4. The Education Commission of the States found that: • Students know what is expected because teachers have prepared them for the test. Students are accountable for their test scores. Expectations are high so students usually perform better. • Schools identify and can address student weaknesses early. • When schools become aware of areas of weakness, they are able to provide additional resources. (teacher aides, programs, peer tutoring and professional development) • When the public sees gains from year to year this promotes confidence in public schools. www.alsde.edu

  5. Support of high-stakes testing also assume that the tests: • Are good measures of the curricula that is taught to students in our schools. • Provide a kind of “level playing field,” an equal opportunity for all students to demonstrate their knowledge. • Are good measures of an individual’s performance, little affected by differences in students’ motivation, emotionality, language, and social status.

  6. Supporters also believe that: • Teachers use test results to help provide better instruction for individual students. • Administrators use the test results to improve student learning and design better professional development for teachers. • Parents understand high-stakes tests and how to interpret their child’s scores.

  7. Gaps Between Testing Principle and Educational Realities • Test users must ensure that results are truly indicative of student achievement rather than a reflection of the quality of school resources or instruction. • It is only fair to use test results in high-stakes decisions when students have had a real opportunity to master the materials upon which the test is based. • Public policymakers should support research on the consequences of such testing.

  8. More Research is Needed • Testing is a valuable part of educational assessment, but it is only a pat of the formula for quality learning. • Test users must guard against allowing the testing process to overwhelm the rest of a student’s mastery of a wide curriculum. • Remedial programs should be in place for students who score low or fail such tests. • Stakes are high!!!! • What will be the long-term effect of high-stakes testing on student achievement? • Will it enhance or diminish broad-based learning?

More Related