I. Are standardized tests fair and help evaluation tools.
A. Not all standardized exams are helpful when it comes to students going on to the next level or even graduating high school.
1. Most tests are done in multiple choice format and they do not always measure the ability to think deeply or creatively in any field.
2. Sometimes these types of methods that are used during these type of testing are harmful practices and it can hurt the children when it comes to grade retention and tracking.
B. Not all test scores are reliable and they should not be used to determine whether or not a child should graduate or pass to the next level.
1. Test scores are reliable if you get the same results the second time it is administered to you but all test do have measurement error.
2. Measurement error means that the individuals score may vary from day to day due to the testing conditions or the test takers mental or emotional state. The score on young children and scores on sub sections of tests are unreliable.

II. Do multiple choice or short answers tests measure important student achievement?
A. Multiple choice or short answer tests are very poor yardsticks for detecting whether a student is learning.
1. Multiple choice and short answer tests are weak measures of the ability of students being able to comprehend complex material, write, and apply math.
2. Multiple choice tests and short answers also do not measure thinking skills or assess what people can do on real world tasks.
B. Are test scores helpful to teachers?
1. There have been many classroom surveys done and they show that most teachers do not find scores from standardized tests score very useful.
2. The test do not help a teacher understand what to do next in working with a student because these tests do not indicate how the students learns or thinks.

III. What is high-stakes testing?
A. High stakes test are used to make important decisions such as a student promotion or graduation, granting teachers with a bonus or sanctioning schools for poor performance.
1. There are now twenty six states that are now doing graduation tests and there are some states and districts that have tests for grade promotion.
2. Now these standardized tests are also being used to evaluate teachers’ performances.
B. What happens when tests become high stakes?
1. When high stakes tests come in to play a narrow focus on just teaching the tested material is what is taught and all untested subjects such as social studies, art and music are cut back or eliminated.
2. High stakes test produce score inflation. The students’ scores go up but they have not learned more and their scores are lower on different standardized tests.