...Administration Practices for Standardized Assessments . . Sasha Zucker With assistance from: Margarita Galindo Elaine Grainger Nancy Severance . . . . . . . . April 2004 Copyright © 2004 by Pearson Education, Inc. or its affiliate(s). All rights reserved. Pearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education, Inc. or its affiliate(s). . . . . . . . . . ASSESSMENT REPORT Administration Practices for Standardized Assessments Administration Practices for Standardized Assessments Note: This report is based on “Appropriate Administration Practices with Standardized Tests” published in Testing Information Bulletin No. 3 by Harcourt Brace Educational Measurement, June 1996. Introduction Pearson Inc. (Pearson) develops and distributes a variety of assessments for educational and clinical purposes. To meet the goal of producing highly valid, reliable results for test users, each of these products is developed according to strict guidelines. For standardized tests, the way in which the test is administered is equally important. By carefully adhering to administration practices, a test user can contribute to the validity and reliability of each student’s results. Moreover, following appropriate administration practices satisfies widely accepted ethical standards and codes of responsibilities required for test administrators. This report discusses general and documented administration practices for standardized assessments, especially with...
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...In the United States, millions of students partake in what we call standardized testing. Standardized testing is an unfair test that is administered to students and they are scored in a consistent manner. These tests are designed in such a way that the questions and procedures for scoring are homogenously consistent and students are scored in a predetermined, yet standard manner. The performance of a student should not be shown through standardized testing because the results are inaccurate. Standardized tests puts a lot of pressure on educators, students and parents; producing anxiety and causing parents to allow their children to opt out of tests. Standardized tests should be boycotted as a whole in schools because it is an irrelevant and inaccurate way of testing. These tests hinder a student’s overall learning potential. “Teachers agreed that standardized tests are unfair and provides misleading results” (Map and Kennedy 130). The current use of standardized testing does not in fact help educate students with their learning. Too much time is spent testing when it could be spent...
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...The first standardized tests appeared in America during World War I as a means of placing U.S. Army recruits into military roles that suited their skills. Later the psychologists that created those tests created the Scholastic Aptitude Test, or SAT. The objective was to create a full-length test to judge the overall intelligence of a student applying to college. The ACT was later created in 1959 with a similar goal. The two tests today contain sections for reading, writing, math, and in the ACT, science. Today, standardized tests are defined as any examination that is managed and scored in a standard way. Throughout time standardized tests have been progressively changing in their measurement of individuals. Today there are two noteworthy sorts...
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...Technology and Assessment S C Assessing Effects of Technology on Learning: Limitations of Today’s Standardized Tests Michael Russell & Jennifer Higgins Technology and Assessment Study Collaborative Boston College 332 Campion Hall Chestnut Hill, MA 02467 www.intasc.org Assessing Effects of Technology on Learning: Limitations of Today’s Standardized Tests Michael Russell & Jennifer Higgins Technology and Assessment Study Collaborative Boston College Released August 2003 Michael K. Russell, Project Director/Boston College Copyright © 2003 Technology and Assessment Study Collaborative, Boston College Supported under the Field Initiated Study Grant Program, PR/Award Number R305T010065, as administered by the Office of Educational Research and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education. The findings and opinions expressed in this report do not reflect the positions or policies of the Office of Educational Research and Improvement, or the U.S. Department of Education. Assessing Effects of Technology on Learning: Limitations of Today’s Standardized Tests Michael Russell & Jennifer Higgins Technology and Assessment Study Collaborative Boston College Over the past decade, students’ use of computers...
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...Are standardized tests really necessary? In my opinion the state should discontinue standardized tests because all it is doing is teaching students to pass the test rather than learning ways to apply the material in real world situations, and not everything on the test will be of use to the students. Most of the times, the teachers teach their students the curriculum of the tests, instead of teaching material that can be used in the real world. One example, could be those formulas and equations used in math. It is uncommon to see a real world problem along with a formula. Math commonly uses formulas, but formulas are not commonly used in daily life. They mostly teach the process, but not how to apply those skills in a daily life situation....
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...10/25/10 Over the years standardized testing has played a major role on education. Preparation for these test has become important for teachers since a student may take a least one standardized test per year. And therein lies the problem; relying heavily on standardized test, whether or not these test actually have reliable scores and are worth the extensive focus. Standardized test negatively affect student learning because they focus on certain topics and generate unreliable test scores due to certain factors. These factors include limitation of creativity, narrowing of curriculum, use of outdated methods, repetition, race and gender. In my research I have found significant data supporting my views. But first it is important to understand what standardized tests are. Standardized tests are different from other testing because they have uniform procedure. This means that they have the same time limits, fixed set of questions, and the scoring is also carefully outlined and uniform. Standardized test are usually scored objectively but there can be some questions such as a short answer question or personality questions which can be scored differently. Almost all test can be classified as informal or formal; a test given and create by a teacher is informal, but a standardized test is classified as formal (Mehrens and Lehmannn). There are certain characteristics a test must have to be a standardized test. The first characteristic is that the test...
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...Special Education Kids and Standardized Testing Special education children have trouble keeping up in regular classrooms which is the reason they have their own classes, but they are often still forced to take the same tests as regular students. The tests can benefit some students but not all. When it comes to the standardized tests for kids with special needs there are accommodations in place like extra time and having an aid read the questions. These only help kids with simple special needs, not those with severe conditions; some teachers use different testing just for kids with severe cognitive dysfunctions, but many still use regular testing. “Two-thirds of students with disabilities are performing well below grade level in reading and...
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...The Writing Process 5/2/14 Standardized Testing These days, if a school's standardized test scores are high, people think the school's staff is effective. If a school's standardized test scores are low, they see the school's staff as ineffective. In either case, because educational quality is being measured by the wrong scale, those evaluations are apt to be in error. One of the main reasons that students' standardized test scores continue to be the most important factor in evaluating a school is deceptively simple. Most educators do not really understand why a standardized test provides a misleading estimate of a school staff's effectiveness, as well as education quality for students. Standardized test are not effective measurements of a student’s knowledge, they create negative impacts on curriculum, and they are racially, socially, and economically biased. A standardized test is any examination that's administered and scored in a predetermined, standard manner. There are two major kinds of standardized tests: aptitude tests and achievement tests. “Standardized aptitude tests predict how well students are likely to perform in some subsequent educational setting (SAT-I /ACT), both of which attempt to forecast how well high school students will perform in college. But standardized achievement-test scores are what citizens and school board members rely on when they evaluate a school's effectiveness.” (Popham) One of the most important reasons that students’ performances...
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...Standardized Testing: Debunking the Myths Trestin M. Holmes Wiley College ENGL 1302 08 OL-English Composition Dr. Don Lawson November 17, 2014 Abstract The purpose of this research is to thoroughly examine the myths and preconceived notions pertaining to standardized testing and compare it with factual evidence. The criteria that will be used to accurately analyze this study will consist of evaluating the overall effectiveness of standardized testing in terms of student achievement, estimating how much of a financial burden standardized testing has proven to be in past years, and observing the adverse impact that standardized testing has had on children from a statistical & realistic standpoint. This will undoubtedly give insight on how much of a detriment standardized testing is in today’s society. Standardized Testing: Debunking the Myths What is Standardized Testing? A standardized test is a test that is administered and scored in a consistent, or "standard", manner. Standardized tests are designed in such a way that the questions, conditions for administering, scoring procedures, and interpretations are consistent and are administered and scored in a predetermined, standard manner. Any test in which the same test is given in the same manner to all test takers is a standardized test. Thesis Standardized tests have been a part of American education since the mid-1800’s and its use has skyrocketed since the induction of 200’2’s “No Child Left Behind Act”...
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...systems vary greatly by country and school; common scales include a percentage from 1-100, lettering systems from A-F, and grade point averages (GPA) from 0-4.0 or above. Attendance It would be difficult to perform well in class if the student doesn't attend. In public grade schools, attendance is compulsory and numerous unexcused absences may lead to notifying the students' parents, barring of make-up work for missed assignments and tests, or direct affects on grades. In extreme instances, parents have even been taken to court and given jail time for their truant students! Standardized Tests Standardized tests are those that provide a consistent measure of a student's performance with those that take the same test, often nationwide. Standardized tests include the Stanford Achievement Test (SAT), the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale, and the California Achievement Test (CAT). As the testing procedures and scoring are consistent regardless where the test is taken, standardised tests can provide a more direct representation of the taker's knowledge and aptitude than his or her grade in school. Extra-curricular Activities Although by definition voluntary, involvement in extra-curricular activities such as...
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...In 2000, President George Bush signed into law the no child left behind act. This act was supposed to help get children caught up to grade level math, reading, and science test scores. After 12 years about 82 percent of all the nations’ schools are considered to be failing academically (Dillon).What is a failing school? A failing school is a school where the majority of its students failed to do well on standardized tests that were provided during the school year. The problem is that these schools are found all over the United States. What can be done? How can we fix these failing schools? Who is to blame? Most people would blame the teacher first and foremost, but I disagree. In this paper I will discuss what we can do to fix schools that are failing academically. I will argue that adding early childhood education classes, changing curriculum, and modifying standardized tests are all effective steps in correcting the problems that failing schools continually face. I will support my argument by using the views of authors such as Alfie Kohn and his ideas of making the curriculum more entertaining to make learning easier, Fred Lunenburg’s ideas that preschool is a critical point to achieve success later on in school, Sam Dillon’s views about how the No child left behind act has hurt more public schools than helped them, and other researchers as well. One step I feel that could help with fixing schools that are failing academically is by adding free early childhood education to...
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...Effects of socioeconomic status on academic performance in Missouri public schools ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, 2009 Dissertation Author: Brent M Blevins Abstract: Understanding the effects of socioeconomic status on academic performance is important in determining effective and valid testing for all Missouri students. Determining the correlation between these two variables is important for all educators to understand, so that all students can achieve to their academic potential. Finding the correlation between academic performance and socioeconomic status can assist educators in determining instructional strategies that best fit each individual student. In this study the researcher analyzed the effects of socioeconomic status on the academic performance by retrieving data on the state mandated Missouri Assessment Program. The researcher analyzed fifty school districts on the communication arts portion of the MAP test. This data was used in determining the academic performance of these students. The percent of free and reduced lunch students in these districts was used in determining their socioeconomic status. The correlation between the two variables was determined by using the Pearson r Correlation Formula. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract.................................................iii List of Tables............................................vi CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION...................................1 Statement of the Problem.........................5 Importance...
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...Measuring a Student’s Potential There is a moment in everyone’s life that occurs junior year of High School. It is the moment that will determine someone’s chances of getting into college…or not. It is a basis for measuring a student’s performance academically and also their general knowledge and logic. It is a standardized curriculum that every student takes, un-biased or composed by different teachers. It is the SAT or in other words, the Scholastic Aptitude Test. Full of multiple choice and open ended questions, students complete the exam anywhere between 5 to 8 hours and their scores are submitted during their college application process. The results will stay with them for a lifetime, either benefitting or bewildering them. Some get into Yale, while others settle for a less expensive and well known university. Then there are those that don’t attend college. But, the impact of the exam seems to hit hard at the heart. If someone scores poorly, they may think they aren’t smart enough or they did something wrong. Those who invented the SAT had every intention of measuring intelligence without any bias; everyone takes the same test so there is no complication. The impact of this is stress and feelings of doubt by students. Is the SAT a reliable source to measure student performance? If you look what defines an individual, it isn’t simply test scores. There are other areas of intelligence to be measured. The Scholastic Aptitude Test is not a reliable source for student...
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...identify the problem that student is facing in his academic year study. These are helping the school officials to analyses where the student is not doing good by immediately collecting the records of the student from various test grades. These systems are also helping the schools to provide more necessary information and sources to the students if necessary. When coming to the inputs and outputs of these systems they are giving best results in various schools like Montgomery, 90 percent of kindergartners were able to read at the level required by standardized testing, with minimal differences among racial and socioeconomic groups. These numbers are up from 52 percent of African-Americans, 42 percent of Latinos, and 44 percent of low-income students just seven years ago. Also, the system has effectively identified students with abilities at an earlier age. In many ways, the data-driven systems build from the wealth of standardized testing information. 2. What management, organization, and technology issues must be addressed by this solution? Management: Ans: When coming to the...
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...Critical Review of Cizek, Gregory J. (2005). High-Stakes Testing: Contexts, Characteristics, Critiques, and Consequences In Richard Phelps (Ed.), Defending Standardized Testing (pp. 23-54). New York, New York: Psychological Press. By Cheryl LeBlanc-Weldon When I decided to delve into the issue of high-stakes testing, I purposefully set out to find its defenders. Critical thinking is important to me and part of the process of thinking critically is to view a variety of perspectives on an issue in order to obtain an informed understanding and from that, an opinion. As an experienced educator, I have participated in standardized testing in a variety of ways. I have administered and graded tests in both Mathematics and Language Arts. I believe that currently in Nova Scotia we don’t have the type of high-stakes testing they have in the USA and other parts of the world. Our students do not need to achieve a certain level of achievement on the standardized tests they take in order to grade and teachers are not fired or have their salaries docked when students fail to achieve the benchmarks. Still, the provincial tests our students write do have a degree of importance in that the results are published for media and public consumption (which directly affects the opinion people form of the health of our education system) and certain resources are channeled into schools with the weakest performance. In addition, the way students view themselves and their abilities are affected...
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