Standardized Tests
Keisha Rucker
English 102
11/11/2012
Rachel Hawley

Standardized Tests
What is Standardized Tests? Standardized Tests is a test that is administered and scored in a consistent or standard manner. Some different types of standardized tests are SAT, ACT, and ISAT. These different tests are biased in the public school system across the United States. Standardized test take up a lot of student’s energy, adds a lot of stress, and takes away from their creativity and social life. Standardized tests are just one measure of performance in a Student’s portfolio, according to education commissioner Peter McWalters (Jordan, 2005). WASHINGTON, D.C., Standardized tests are "like a lock on the mind, a guard at the factory gate," the executive director of the National Education Association said today, noting that "the only real beneficiaries, aside from the test marketers themselves, are insecure school managers striving for comfort in their relations with school boards, legislators, and governors”( Standardized tests, 1976).
Critics have demonstrated that many standardized test are biased because their questions tap a set of knowledge and skills more likely to be possessed by children from a privileged background (Kohn, 2000). Most tests are written by people who don’t have any experience teaching students. Students from different cultures may lace higher importance on different skills. They may be stronger or weaker in areas tested compared to other students of different backgrounds. Therefore, skills not accounted for or reflected in test questions cannot accurately assess students. Corrective measures for improving education become difficult because of loss of information from scoring standardized tests. Students are tested on what answers are right and wrong which makes testing difficult to accurately assess student’s abilities.
Standardized tests take up a lot of the student’s energy. Students spend all their time studying for these different tests and it drains all their energy. Preparing for these different tests just doesn’t drain the student’s, the teacher’s and parent’s energy is also drained. The time, energy, and money that are being devoted to preparing students for standardized tests have to come from somewhere. Schools across the country are cutting back or even eliminating programs in the arts, recess for young children, electives for high schoolers, class meetings (and other activities intended to promote social and moral learning), discussions about current events (since that material will not appear on the test), the use of literature in the early grades (if the tests are focused narrowly on decoding skills), and entire subject areas such as science (if the tests cover only language arts and math). Anyone who doubts the scope and significance of what is being sacrificed in the desperate quest to raise scores has not been inside a school lately (Kohn, 2000). Both teacher’s and parent’s play a part to prepare the student’s for all these different standardized tests. All this energy that is spent on preparing for these tests could be spent on student’s creativity and social lives. Teacher’s strong feeling that standardized testing has come to constitute a serious threat to their ability to perform as professionals in the classroom was dramatized. For the first time anywhere, standardized testing becomes the central issue at bargaining between school teachers and school management. The board instituted dismissal proceedings against 300 teachers, but withdrew them after the teachers struck (Standardized tests, 1976).
Standardized test put a lot of stress on the students. They are stress because these tests determined if they’re going to the next grade, and to determine what college they are able to get into. The teachers are stressing them to pass, and their parents. There is many ways to help the students for stressing over these tests. Some ways parents could help keep the stress level at minimum is keeping positive energy around the students at home and school. Let your child know he/she will be ok whatever the outcome might turn out.

Standardized tests do not compromise for students with disabilities. According to an article by the National Education Association, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), states that schools must accommodate disabled students and visually impaired students are to be able to read test material aloud (Ralabate,2006). In a NCLB mandated test, a group of blind students had their scores reported as zeros because the testing protocol did not allow for test readers to speak (Ralabate, 2006).
Norm-referenced tests were never intended to measure the quality of learning or teaching. The Stanford, Metropolitan, and California Achievement Tests (SAT, MAT, and CAT), as well as the Iowa and Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS and CTBS), are designed so that only about half the test-takers will respond correctly to most items. The main objective of these tests is to rank, not to rate; to spread out the scores, not to gauge the quality of a given student or school (Kohn, 2000). Low test scores label students as not being intelligent. Students could develop low self esteem and drop out of school. Students want to feel good about themselves and wouldn’t want to take more tests in the future. Students could be put in special classes because of their low test scores. The tests are just the means by which this game is played. It is a game that a lot of kids--predominantly kids of color--simply cannot win. Invoking these very kids to justify a top-down, heavy-handed, corporate-style, test-driven version of school reform requires a stunning degree of audacity. To take the cause of equity seriously is to work for the elimination of tracking, for more equitable funding, and for the universal implementation of more sophisticated approaches to pedagogy (as opposed to heavily scripted direct-instruction programs). But standardized testing, while bad news across the board, is especially hurtful to students who need our help the most (Kohn, 2000).
2012 California Modified Assessment (CMA)
Number of Test Items and Estimated Test Administration Time for Each Grade and Test
STAR coordinators should use the table below to develop schedules for administering the CMA at their school sites. The CMA consists of untimed tests, but almost all students should complete the tests within the times listed. Each test part must be administered in a single sitting with no breaks unless the student has an IEP or Section 504 plan that allows for breaks as a testing accommodation or the student is an English learner who is eligible for breaks as a testing variation. However, if some students are actively working on a test when time is called, they must be allowed time to complete it. The Directions for Administration (DFAs) have information about this.
The times in the table include time for test examiners to distribute materials, give directions, and collect materials, as well as the student working time. Multiple-choice CMA tests may be administered over multiple days. If multiple parts are administered on one day, students should have at least a 10-minute break between the parts. For grade three, the CDE and ETS strongly recommend that no more than one test part be administered in a day. For the first day of testing, add 10–15 minutes to the time in the table below to allow time for students to complete demographic information as instructed in the “First Day of Testing” section of the DFAs.
Table [ 30 ]. CMA Items and Estimated Time Chart ITEMS and ESTIMATED TIME CHART | California
Modified
Assessment | Grade 3 | Grade 4 | Grade 5 | Grade 6 | Grade 7 | Grade 8 | Grade 9 | Grade 10 | Grade 11 | | Total No. of Items | Time | Total No. of Items | Time | Total No. of Items | Time | Total No. of Items | Time | Total No. of Items | Time | Total No. of Items | Time | Total No. of Items | Time | Total No. of Items | Time | Total No. of Items | Time | English–Language Arts | 57 | 180 | 57 | 135 | 57 | 135 | 63 | 165 | 63 | 165 | 63 | 165 | 70 | 150 | 70 | 150 | 70 | 150 | Part 1 | | 45 | | 45 | | 45 | | 55 | | 55 | | 55 | | 50 | | 50 | | 50 | Part 2 | | 45 | | 45 | | 45 | | 55 | | 55 | | 55 | | 50 | | 50 | | 50 | Part 3 | | 45 | | 45 | | 45 | | 55 | | 55 | | 55 | | 50 | | 50 | | 50 | Part 4–only grade 3 | | 45 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | Writing Application | -- | -- | 1 | 701 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | 701 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | Mathematics | 57 | 140 | 57 | 105 | 57 | 105 | 63 | 120 | 632 | 120 | 703 | 150 | 703 | 150 | 703 | 150 | 703 | 150 | Part 1 | | 35 | | 35 | | 35 | | 40 | | 40 | | 50 | | 50 | | 50 | | 50 | Part 2 | | 35 | | 35 | | 35 | | 40 | | 40 | | 50 | | 50 | | 50 | | 50 | Part 3 | | 35 | | 35 | | 35 | | 40 | | 40 | | 50 | | 50 | | 50 | | 50 | Part 4–only grade 3 | | 35 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | | -- | -- |

1 | The writing tests in grades four and seven are given on a separate date from the multiple-choice tests. Writing test times are not included in the estimated time for ELA multiple-choice tests. | 2 | Students in grade seven taking a mathematics CMA will take either the CMA for Mathematics (Grade 7) or the CMA for Algebra I. Item numbers and times are for the CMA for Mathematics (Grade 7). Items and estimated times for the CMA for Algebra I are listed under grades eight through eleven mathematics. | 3 | Students in grades eight through eleven will take the CMA for Algebra I or Geometry or the appropriate mathematics CST. |

2012 California Alternate Performance Assessment (CAPA)
Number of Test Items and Estimated Testing Time Required
Testing times for the CAPA are approximate. This assessment is administered individually, and the testing time varies from one student to another, based on factors such as the student’s response time and attention span. A student may be tested with the CAPA over as many days as required within the school district’s testing window.
Table [ 31 ]. CAPA Items and Estimated Time Chart ITEMS and ESTIMATED TIME CHART | CAPA Content Area | Grades 2–11 | | Items | Time | English–Language Arts | 12 | 45 minutes | Mathematics | 12 | 45 minutes | Science | 12 | 45 minutes | | CAPA LEVELS | Level | Grades | I | 2 through 11 | II | 2 and 3 | III | 4 and 5 | IV | 6, 7, and 8 | V | 9, 10, and 11 | |

Standardized tests are unfair and only given to determine a student’s intelligence and academic performance and shouldn’t be given to student’s to label them. These tests take up a lot of the student’s energy, put a lot of stress on them, and take time away from their social life and creativity. These tests are biased because it is made up of certain questions, knowledge, and skills.

Reference
Statement of Patti Ralabate. (2006). National Association. ESEA: IT'S TIME FOR A CHANGE! NEA's Positive Agenda for the ESEA Reauthorization. (2012/November). Retrieved from http://www.nea.org/home/Statement-of-Patti-Ralabate.html
Jordan, J.D. (2005, Oct 02). Standardized tests don’t tell all. The Providence Journal. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/397583187?accountial=35812
Quality education hindered by standardized tests. (1976, Jan01). Oakland Post (1968-1981). Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/371715085.accountedc=35812
Kohn, A. (2000). Standardized Testing and Its Victims. Education Week, 20(4), 60. Retrieved from http//web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/ehost/detail
Take out Your No.2 Pencils: Taking the stress out of Standardized Tests (teacher.scholastic.com/professional/assessment/take_out_pencils.htm