Standards and Testing

The standards and testing category is designed to aide teachers in finding applicable testing materials for their students. Today teacher performance and evaluation is often directly associated with the results of their students on testing materials. Standardized tests have become a viable way for individual schools and school districts to gauge how well they are doing as a learning institution, and how well the students understand and retain pertinent information.

There are both positive and negative aspects that come out of standardized testing. One of the most recognized reasons standardized tests are used is that they hold all students accountable for the same level of educational materials. This way, when students move on to the next grade, teachers know that all students have been taught the same concepts and ideals, despite the demographics of the school. Proponents of standardized testing also believe they are more practical and objective overall. However, there are a large number of educators and parents that believe testing all students with the exact same criteria limits and harms the student more than it helps. Opponents of these standardized tests believe that these high-stakes exams are negatively affecting the criteria and curriculum being taught in schools. They fear standardized testing has too much affect on how teachers teach, what teachers teach, and how much time a teacher actually spends on a particular subject.

Most people acknowledge both the positive and negative aspects involved with standardized testing. However, it is also recognized that standardized tests are the most cost effective. Performance based testing costs more money than standardized tests. Since standardized tests are graded by computers, all bias is essentially taken from the grading process. If an exam was graded by individuals; there would be allowances for bias and unequal grading. A perfectly unbiased score would be difficult to achieve.

As you can see, this is a complex and important topic that will continue to be a controversial issue in the future. Learn more about standards and testing…

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