12.6 Chapter summary and references

Chapter summary

Standardized tests are developed by a team of experts and are administered in standard ways. They are used for a variety of educational purposes including accountability. Most elementary and middle school teachers are likely to be responsible for helping their students attain state content standards and achieve proficiency on criterion-referenced achievement tests. In order for teachers to interpret test scores and communicate that information to students and parents they have to understand basic information about measures of central tendency and variability, the normal distribution, and several kinds of test scores. Current evidence suggests that standardized tests can be biased against certain groups and that many teachers tailor their curriculum and classroom tests to match the standardized tests. In addition, some educators have been caught cheating.

Key terms

Achievement tests

Aptitude tests

AYP (Annual Yearly Progress)

Criterion referenced tests

Diagnostic tests

Frequency distribution

Grade equivalent scores

High stakes tests

Mean

Median

Mode

Norm referenced tests

Range

Standard deviation

Stanine

Z-score

On the internet

< http://www.cse.ucla.edu/> The National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing (CRESST) at UCLA focuses on research and development that improves assessment and accountability systems. It has resources for researchers, K-12 teachers, and policy makers on the implications of NCLB as well as classroom assessment.

< www.ets.org >This is the home page of Educational Testing services which administers the PRAXIS II series of tests and has links to the testing requirements for teachers seeking licensure in each state District of Columbia and the US Virgin Islands.

< http://www.ed.gov/nclb/landing.jhtml >This is US Department of Education website devoted to promoting information and supporting and NCLB. Links for teachers and the summaries of the impact of NCLB in each state are provided.

References

American Federation of Teachers (2006, July) Smart Testing: Let’s get it right . AFT Policy Brief. Retrieved August 8 ^th 2006 from http://www.aft.org/presscenter/releases/2006/smarttesting/Testingbrief.pdf

Aronson, J.,&Steele, C. M. (2005). Stereotypes and the Fragility of Academic Competence, Motivation, and Self-Concept. In A. J. Elliott&C. S. Dweck (Eds.). Handbook of competence and motivation. ( pp.436-456) Guilford Publications, New York.

Bracey, G. W. (2004). Value added assessment findings: Poor kids get poor teachers. Phi Delta Kappan, 86 , 331- 333

Cizek, G. J. (2003). Detecting and preventing classroom cheating: Promoting integrity in assessment. Corwin Press, Thousand Oaks, CA.

Combined Curriculum Document Reading 4.1 (2006). Accessed November 19, 2006 from http://www.education.ky.gov/KDE/Instructional+Resources/Curriculum+Documents+and+Resources/Teaching+Tools/Combined+Curriculum+Documents/default.htm