U.S Standardized Testing

[Firebird 40]

One of my classes has imposed upon me the project of gathering respectable opinions on each different standardized test in the United States. For example.... at the end of the year, Florida has the FCAT(Florida Comprehensive Assesment Test), and the National NRT(Norm Refrenced Test).
I know there are similar test in other states, and want to hear your opinions on them.

[Zelgadis 638]

As a teacher, I firmly believe that standardized tests aren't worth the match to set them on fire. They reveal absolutely nothing about anyone's knowledge, skills, or abilities. That goes for all of them: ACT, SAT, GRE, TOEFL, TOEIC, etc.

But having a "number" sure makes the bureaucrats feel like they've done something worthwhile for society...

ISF

[Smarty218 2]

Well, the minor ones are pretty annoying, but being in high school courses in junior high like me helps... I can bypass them.

Of course, then I have to take regents....

[hamsterTK 93]

We have the TAKS in Texas

I always thought the test was too easy, and I was not a good student by any stretch of the imagination

[Barbarossa 51]

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  Edited September 7, 2012 by Barbarossa  

[SimRabbit 48]

but you are allowed to guess on Standardized tests.

[ilikehotdogsalot 307]

Hm, how should I word this so I don't get banned...

[Duke87 1,070]

The point is, of course, to have a single standard which you can compare everyone against. The trouble is, one size does not fit all, here- different people have different strengths and weaknesses and two people with the same level of intelligence overall can score very differently on the same test depending on what it is compared to what the test requires.

You often hear it mentioned that "The SAT is a test of how well you take the SAT". Well, the same could ultimately be said of any standardized test, really. How smart someone is and how adept they are at life is far too complex to test- and certainly too complex to assign numbers to. Not everything can really be quantified.

You can improve your accuracy by taking several different tests as opposed to just one, but that's way too time consuming and still does nothing for the people who are smart but suck at taking tests in general, and the people who are stupid but are master BSers. A smart person that gets really nervous won't perform too well; a dumb person that's calm and focused may actually do better than them- and based on the test, you might think they were the smarter one. That's the real problem with standardizing something like this. There are too many variables that you can't control. People are not machines where if you feed them a test, they'll spit out an accurate picture of how skilled they are. The first time I took the SAT I got 680 math, 600 verbal. Second time I took it I got 690 math, 570 verbal. If a standardized test truly worked, you'd expect someone to get the same score every time they took it... and that never happens. People can even get radically different scores from one attempt to another, depending on how focused they are, how calm they are, how much sleep they got the night before, how well they studied... and just pure luck. When it's multiple choice, you don't need to have any clue what the answer to the question is in order to get it right, after all. Just pick a letter and you have a 1 in 4 or 1 in 5 chance of getting it. It's improbable that someone will do too well if they're answering a lot of the questions like this, but it's theoretically possible for someone to get every single one right just guessing. Though this isn't really a big concern: a 10 question, 5 choice per question test gives you about a 1 in 10 million chance of getting them all right by random guessing. Bring that up to 240 questions (which I believe the SAT is) and the odds are on the order of 10^-168 (something guaranteed having odds of 1). Completely possible in theory, but you'd never in a million years see it happen. Besides, if someone gets a really high score on the SAT but has really crappy grades, that score is going to become suspect and colleges will likely disregard it.

For those of you that might not quite grasp it, this is 10^-168:

.00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001

[skyliner22 16]

I never really understood the point of the STAR testing, here in CA. I've taken it probably since 4th grade and it doesnt really benefit us or anything. I mean getting a basic opposed to Proefficent does what to you? Last year though they did some kind of thing where if you got Advanced it looks good for your transcript. Whatever I don't have to take it anymore.

The SATs however are kind of stupid. Its a FOUR hour test! I am sure everyone would be so sick of answering the math or figure out the point of the story by the seventh and eight sections. I think it doesnt make sense for all of that crap and this is what determines if u get into college? I did quite average, 1650. Good thing UCs are looking at other things too besides grades and SAT scores.

But then again if you compare to Japan's standardized testing to get into university, SAT is cake. You get ONE chance to take the test. If you do poorly, your not going to college until retaking it next year. Which is OK because you can have an adequate life without a college education there. Here on the other hand, if you don't you will end up with minimum wage which isn't sufficient at all.

[patriots_1228 51]

MCAS

Massachuestts Child Abuse System

Here in my school they prepare for it with superhard tests and quizes and packets for about 4 months, but then when we take it, we realize it was designed for "the less fortuant" child who are addicted to pot and live in a cardboard box in Dorchester.

I have never gotten more than 1 question wrong on MCAS.

[Duke87 1,070]

Originally posted by: skyliner22 The SATs however are kind of stupid. Its a FOUR hour test! I am sure everyone would be so sick of answering the math or figure out the point of the story by the seventh and eight sections. I think it doesnt make sense for all of that crap and this is what determines if u get into college? I did quite average, 1650. Good thing UCs are looking at other things too besides grades and SAT scores.quote>

You took the test spring 2005 or later, I presume? Because when I took it it was just out of 1600. Actually, I'm glad I took it when I did. I was the last year that took the "old" test. If I had had to take the new one, I wouldn't have done as good. The analogies (which they removed) were the part of the Verbal section I did better with. The critical reading part which they kept was my weaker point. And they added a writing section, which I know I would have done abysmally with. I suck at writing seriously, formally, or professionally.

But then again if you compare to Japan's standardized testing to get into university, SAT is cake. You get ONE chance to take the test. If you do poorly, your not going to college until retaking it next year. Which is OK because you can have an adequate life without a college education there. Here on the other hand, if you don't you will end up with minimum wage which isn't sufficient at all.quote>

Japan is known for being very serious about its academics. It's not just the standardized testing that's a piece of cake in comparison here, it's basically all of school from kindergarten on up.  And that's because we strive to make everyone reach a minimum standard and once they're there, no more. Whereas Japan is much more competitive with it's schools. Everyone is expected to do the very best they can, not just the minimum "good enough".

[ilikehotdogsalot 307]

Originally posted by: patriots_1228 MCAS

Massachuestts Child Abuse System

Here in my school they prepare for it with superhard tests and quizes and packets for about 4 months, but then when we take it, we realize it was designed for "the less fortuant" child who are addicted to pot and live in a cardboard box in Dorchester.

I have never gotten more than 1 question wrong on MCAS.quote>

Very true. They give you really tough questions in these practice packets and it makes you wonder if the test is going to be extra hard this year. Then, the day comes, and the questions they ask are...

What is a variable?

What is the square root of 144?

 

Find x: 5x = 25

etc, etc.

[hym 358]

Originally posted by: Barbarossa Standardized testing contributes to the dumbing down of America. It forces children to think inside the box, as opposed to outside of it.

Barbarossaquote>

I believe you might find this to be an appropriate question.

[Danlikebooks 6]

They say if you put Chuck Norris as the answer to every question on the SATs, you'll score 8000...

[Voar Tok 4]

Originally posted by: Duke87

Originally posted by: skyliner22 The SATs however are kind of stupid. Its a FOUR hour test! I am sure everyone would be so sick of answering the math or figure out the point of the story by the seventh and eight sections. I think it doesnt make sense for all of that crap and this is what determines if u get into college? I did quite average, 1650. Good thing UCs are looking at other things too besides grades and SAT scores.quote>

You took the test spring 2005 or later, I presume? Because when I took it it was just out of 1600. Actually, I'm glad I took it when I did. I was the last year that took the "old" test. If I had had to take the new one, I wouldn't have done as good. The analogies (which they removed) were the part of the Verbal section I did better with. The critical reading part which they kept was my weaker point. And they added a writing section, which I know I would have done abysmally with. I suck at writing seriously, formally, or professionally.quote>

Unless you take the writing session on the ACT, most universities are still taking scores according to the old test.  The writing section, while it's there, doesn't count for squat.

[Duke87 1,070]

Originally posted by: Voar Tok Unless you take the writing session on the ACT, most universities are still taking scores according to the old test.  The writing section, while it's there, doesn't count for squat.quote>

Well, not that it matters for me anyway. I'm already in college.

[LarksTonguesInAspic 28]

When I was a kid, we had the 'Iowa tests'. Strange, considering I was in Illinois. My scores always put me in the highest fraction of percentiles, but they did have some issues I guess, and are no longer used to my knowledge. 

According to the Iowa tests, I entered 2nd grade (I skipped 1st grade) with a 6th or 7th grade reading level.

[DanWalker8 3]

Luckily I am a social science teacher and don't have to drill my kids! Schools are already pretty screwed up in my opinion. If you want a really good school for your kids, you better start earning some cash.

[ilikehotdogsalot 307]

I just finished taking the FCAT last week, I have the finger blisters to prove it It was extremely tricky this year. The reading session doesn't have anything to do whether you're a good reader at all, there's 3 answers to certain questions. It's not a question like 'What is the main idea of the story?' It's more along the lines of 'What does it mean that the Grandma is a dynamite?' And the answers are that 'A. She has a bold personality, B. She's a difficult person to handle, C. She's very talkative, or D. She has an eccentric way of living'. I mean, give me a break. They're the same thing basically. Everyone told me it was really easy, but my friend got the same book form that I did and he said it was very hard like I thought of it. I'm going to email the state soon about it, it pissed me off After the 20th question I just started putting whatever. The Math was fine, I guess.

[Meg 368]

Originally posted by: manticorefan

When I was a kid, we had the 'Iowa tests'. Strange, considering I was in Illinois.quote>

We had Iowa tests in Maryland too.     As I recall, they were multiple choice tests, no writing portion.

We thought it was unfair that the scores varied based on month and year of birth of the kid taking the test.   Someone with an later birthday got a higher score for the same answers.   

One teacher explained that Joey over there had 3 more months than Tommy did to learn the material so their scores were different for the same answers.   Since we had all been in the same classes since kindergarten, we thought that was a bunch of nonsense.

[Firebird 40]

Wow! I didn't expect this many responses!

Thanks alot guys, you helped me get an 94% on my project!

[ilikehotdogsalot 307]

What did you write? Did I get mentioned?

[confused04 14]

In Maryland, you had to take the following tests to graduate...

Functional Writing Test

Functional Math Test

Functional Reading Test

Maryland Assessments of Geometry, Civics, english, and something else

On top of the other tests that pre-college students are encouraged to take such as

ACT

SAT

Various AP tests

I took 9 AP tests, all of the required tests, 1 ACT and 2 SAT tests... its a lot of testing in Maryland.

[Meg 368]

Originally posted by: confused04

Maryland Assessments of Geometry, Civics, english, and something else

quote>

I think it's biology.