Standardized Testing in American Education - Research Paper Example

Standardized Testing in American education Standardized testing is an issue which has received a fair amount of attention lately particularly as it relates to the fairness and universality of standardized testing in an academic setting. In the United States, standardized testing is quite common where exams such as the SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) determine the likelihood of one’s college and university chances. Are standardized tests valid as a reflection of a student’s performance? Seeking to understand this question and the controversial aspects surrounding uniform standardized testing in the twenty-first century, this essay aims to understand the complexities surrounding this issue. We begin with an overview of the controversies surrounding standardized testing in a modern context and evaluate these controversies with an eye to how educators can learn from the issues at hand. We explore the issue of race and standardized testing and discern whether or not standardized testing is the best means through which student evaluation is undertaken. From this perspective, the historical and sociopolitical issues surrounding standardized testing in America are brought to the fore. Controversy surrounding the implementation of standardized testing can be found throughout the United States. Does a uniform, standardized test accurately reflect a student’s educational aptitude, learning history and future academic performance? As mentioned above, standardized testing is quite common in the United States as the SAT remains a near universal experience for high school students across the country aiming to get into the universities and colleges of the choice. The issue of standardized testing is relatively recent worldwide and remains embroiled in controversy. Presently, Canadian universities do not require a standardized test for admittance although many graduate school programs do. These include the GMAT or LSAT for law school applications. Presently, Montreal’s McGill University is the only English-language law school in North America which does not require an LSAT score for admittance. As the issue of standardized testing came to the fore, a September 2005 poll by the College of Teachers found that 71% of teachers were “dead set against standardized testing”. In a survey from 2004, Teachers vehemently oppose the use of standardized tests as a means to evaluate staff or schools or to decide how money is allocated to schools or school boards. The public disagrees. For example, 79 per cent of teachers oppose using provincial tests to evaluate their performance. Twenty-eight per cent of the public also oppose it, but 45 per cent say the test results should be used for teacher evaluation (College of Teachers, 2004). While we have established that standardized testing in controversial and a wide divergence of opinion exists, is race a factor in the evaluation of standardized testing? There are numerous detractors of standardized testing who emphatically argue that standardized testing has a racial bias and discriminates against people of colour. It is to this issue that we now turn. Race and Standardized Testing According to many scholars of race and educational theory, there is a direct relationship between racism and standardized testing. Charting the relationship between SAT scores and race, Jacqueline Fleming asserts that the SATs may in fact be biased against African Americans. With 41% of the SAT reading comprehension tests devoted to science-related matters, Fleming argues that science is a field in which African-Americans and non-whites have traditionally done poorly in the American context and thus this emphasis on science-related matters in turn privileges white students. While questions on the reading comprehension test of the SAT do pertain to African-Americans, Of the seven tests addressing "African American issues," four or 57% were "negative" or culturally unflattering and unappealing in nature. Those tests focused on the slavery experience and on the diminished rights, poverty, and racial/ethnic chauvinism faced by Black people in the United States (Fleming, 2000, p. 33) Arguing that SAT scores may not in fact provide an unbiased analysis of the educational aptitudes of African-Americans, Fleming shows that the results of African-Americans on average have traditionally been a full 200 points or one full standard deviation below those of European Americans. This scholar asserts that historical prejudice, racism and a variety of disadvantages in the social and educational realms can explain some of the discrepancies surrounding the scores of African-Americans and whites with respect to the SAT. Furthermore, this author points out that “minority test takers mere awareness of the racial/ethnic stigma associated with their groups test performance has a negative effect, serving as a psychological distraction important enough to cause a significant difference.” (Fleming, 2000, p. 34). The issues surrounding standardized testing are incredibly complex, particularly as they relate to race and racism. Since it is difficult to quantify the multitude of issues which impact the educational attainment of minority populations and students from diverse backgrounds who maybe at a disadvantage in a uniform testing situation, perhaps evaluative means should attempt to understand social context? Unfortunately, standardized testing seeks to provide a uniform analysis of one’s aptitudes and specifically negates the social context, personal history or background of an individual when undertaking an analysis. What roles do educators play in the racial standardized testing racial gap? Research has shown that overwhelmingly black schools in the United States tend to attract less skilled instructors than predominately white schools. What other factors, such as a legacy of racial segregation and discrimination, influence this racial gap in standardized testing scores? While there are obviously many, the detractors of standardized testing persuasively argue that this form of evaluation is antiquated and not representative of a student’s educational aptitudes in the twenty-first century. Evaluation Reform Movement The evaluation reform movement is nascent but growing and a recent article on assessment reform aims to explore the assessment reform movement through an analysis of a series of evaluations conducted by the U.S. Department of Educations Office of Educational Research and Improvement. This author undertakes a comparative analysis and seeks to explore the means through which assessment and evaluation are being undertaken in America today. Cromwell’s analysis of the assessment reform movement provides strong insight into the attempts by educators to holistically revise the ways in which students are assessed. The evaluation of students is a fascinating subject to analyze, particularly in light of recent attempts to reform the ways in which students are assessed. Standardized performance assessments can help educators, school boards and state districts understand the ways in which curriculum can be improved in order to accurately understand the abilities of students as well as to improve curricula so that it can be more effectively implemented as a teaching tool. A thorough and comprehensive reform movement is currently underway in schools across North America. Performance assessment tools are currently being evaluated, particularly with respect to improving the basic means through which assessments of students are undertaken. Can general assessment tools such as essays, research projects and the like be improved upon in order to streamline the ways in which students are evaluated? Undertaking an analysis of 16 schools explored by the OERI schools (U.S. Department of Educations Office of Educational Research and Improvement), in various settings and with diverse student bodies were evaluated in the ways in which assessment reform was being implemented in each locale. Much of the assessment reform proved to be standardized, including as part of the Camel Project in Iowa, in New York as well as in Ninos Bonitos Elementary School in San Diego, California. The results of Cromwell’s analysis included the fact that student and teacher motivation increased with the changes in performance assessments and teachers remarked that students improved both their writing, presentation and critical thinking skills as part of the new assessments in place. By focusing on “real life applications” and engaging in hands-on evaluations, the students and teachers responded favorably to the new measures in place. From a personal perspective, I feel that my professional practice as a teacher can be improved through a more thorough understanding of the changes in assessments and evaluations currently being studied by scholars such as Cromwell and the U.S. Department of Educations Office of Educational Research and Improvement. Anything which encourages students to be engaged and take a hands-on approach to learning as well as evaluation, can and will be explored in my classroom. Concluding Remarks Issues surrounding the implementation of standardized testing throughout the United States and Canada remain controversial and actively debated by scholars and research professionals. Standardized testing has received a fair amount of attention in the United States in light of the decision by the George W. Bush Administration to established legislation aimed at uniform testing and common standards across the country. The oddly named “No Child Left Behind Act” sought to standardize testing across the board and make school funding dependent upon the tests results of a school’s student body. Terribly controversial, the “No Child Left Behind Act” stimulated much discussion in the realm of educational attainment and standardized testing in both Canada and the United States. Accordingly, The educational reform initiative, the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), seeks to manifest best practices to produce improved results that are linked to issues of competition, class, and race. The quest for good teaching and quality learning within today’s standardized system, however, is only one component to measure academic outcomes. It is imperative that testing does not become the marginalized remedy of educational inequalities because school accountability exceeds the boundaries of pedagogy and curriculum (Hunter and Bartee, 2003, p. 151) Scholars and educators have been at the forefront of attempts to revaluate measure which ignore the social, economic and cultural contexts of student evaluation. While in the United States, standardized testing is quite common, in Canada the movement is underway to implement standardized tests but again, this remains embroiled in controversy. Are standardized tests valid as a reflection of a student’s performance? As we have demonstrated, standardized tests negate significant social, cultural and historical contexts and thus remain debated. The issue of standardized testing and race provides perhaps the most persuasive arguments as to why standardized testing should be scrutinized. If fairness and proper evaluation remain overriding concerns, it is evident that the introduction of standardized tests are not the best means through which evaluations should be undertaken. In the context of Saskatchewan, the native community in this province has faced a variety of social, economic and historical hurdles and has a unique set of social challenges to overcome. Of course the residential school system is a blight on the social history of this country and this legacy will most certainly impact the educational attainment of native students vs. non-native students. It is evident that while evaluation invites controversy, the questions surrounding standardized tests are great enough to override their introduction in my classroom. REFERENCES Confidence in public education rising, survey says. (2009). Retrieved April 20 2010 from the College of Teachers. http://www.oct.ca/media/news_releases/20040907.aspx?lang=en-CA Cromwell, S. (1998). Assessment reform: Are we making progress? New York: Education World. Fleming, J. (2000). Affirmative action and standardized test scores. The Journal of Negro Education, Winter, 33-44. Hunter, R.C. & Bartee, R. (2003). The Achievement Gap. Education and Urban Society, 35.2, 151-160. Read More