The Storm in Standardized Testing

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There is raging distress over the current need for and method of testing students in the educational system. Most studies seem to indicate that testing by groups and individuals is necessary to meet state and national mandated standards. This testing includes those exams given to each grade level during the school year to measure educational progress and the California State-mandated exit exam given to high school seniors. The need for testing has arisen out of California's' educational school program. This testing is one of three components that are used to assess what students know, when they should know it and their progress as measured against the state standards. The testing as presently performed does not serve the students, the teachers, or the taxpayers, and sorely overcomplicates an issue that needs a concerted, not divisive effort. It unfairly sets the goal of teaching to pass a test rather than to gain knowledge and skills. The test is error prone, expensive, and requires extensive interpretative skills in order to be of any use.

In California, alarm was raised in the 10s when national tests indicated that fourth grade students were performing near the bottom in reading, when compared to the other states (Digitale ). In addition, "almost half of the first-time freshmen who entered the California State University system in fall 14 required remedial instruction in either English or Math" (Irving 1). In response to the dismal statistics, the State of California launched school accountability programs to quiet public concerns over the failing educational system. The slow decline in student education had been gradual since a standard for testing had not been developed or required until 18 when a landmark report A Nation at Risk was published, warning of "a rising tide of mediocrity that threatens our very future as a nation and a people" (Digitale 1).

In this state, the rising number of immigrant students and the socioeconomic status of the student body left these groups lagging since the curriculum was geared toward middle class, English-speaking, indigent youth.

The ability of students to graduate with a minimum set of skills necessary to attend higher education or to find meaningful employment and improve their economic situation is severely limited. This stigma further heightens the class distinction between the "haves" and the "have-nots" but also reduces the integration of people from different ethnic backgrounds into a cohesive population and workforce (Betts and Danenberg ).

Every citizen of this state should be concerned, not just with testing, but, also, with what havoc the testing may create. This is a complex problem that has the potential to drive up taxpayer costs, consume education revenue that subtracts from teachers' salaries, and cause a high rate of students to be returned to repeat a grade. If left unattended, this testing could become a vicious, non-ending progression of escalating evils.

This structure of testing is inherently expensive and consumes vital educational dollars that could best be used in sponsoring classroom testing that is guided by the teacher, with the teacher's being responsible for the student progress. Testing is a 5-million dollar industry, with the majority of that money being spent to keep the tests secure and to process the results. Yet, the scoring of these tests takes weeks to months to be completed and renders their value to a teacher useless since those student have now moved on either out of the system or they have progressed further in their education (Walsh ).

If testing results are used on their own merit to indicate the need for more spending, it may develop into a situation where standards are set too high and a further decrease in test results could ensue (Betts and Danenberg ).

The use of testing to determine minimum competency would also imply a level of scoring accuracy that should be above reproach. "The number of human errors identified in standardized test results has risen dramatically in recent years" according to "Galley 1". A recent scoring error by NCS, a national testing company, "erroneously sent ,000 students to summer school", while costing the school district hundreds of thousands of dollars in direct expenses (Discovery )

Testing may also hide the reason for lower scores when California is judged against the country as a whole. In California there is a far higher number of limited English proficiency students than in other states. "If California's educational standards did not take into account variations in the number of LEP students in each school, the system could, in theory, unfairly penalize schools that served unusually large numbers of English learners" (Betts and Danenberg ). It could also decrease federal funding, due to perceived or statistical poor performance.

The testing of students may conceal the teaching abilities or disabilities of a teacher. Teachers without full credentials, inexperienced teachers, and teachers with, at most, a bachelor's degree are distributed highly unequally among schools" (Betts and Danenberg ). Lower test scores at inner schools with children of lower socioeconomic status and greater ethnic mixes tend to have teachers with lower qualifications than those at more affluent segregated schools (Irving 1).

The least consulted group but the one with a large stake in the future of testing, the teachers, have "objected to the raising of standards and requiring tougher standards because that would cause already high dropout rates to increase" (Irving ). Not only would this eat up valuable revenue but it would also overburden already cramped classrooms. Once the student has been removed from the system by dropping out, all chances of educating them would be eliminated. An adult who has been failed by the educational system and the testing methods would find their economic opportunities limited. Their ability to use further education to enhance their situation would produce further economic strain on a state whose budget is already overburdened.

Using one test to qualify students and to rank a school system seems foolish. A multi-test structure measuring different facets of the student's education may provide a better analysis of a student's ability. "To put all your marbles into one type of assessment would be a mistake," said Philip Daro, director of assessment in the UC President's office. "If a student does well on a bunch of tests, you can be pretty sure the kid deserves what he gets" (Irving ).

The current test may not be able to detect the content standards of the California school system. This would mean the test could be seeking answers to questions that the students have not been taught as part of the curriculum. Unless the test is adaptive and reflective of the existing teaching system, the results may be meaningless or may require extensive interpretation (Betts and Danenberg 4).

If this current system of a single, flawed, complicated, and expensive test is allowed to continue, there is the real possibility of the education system's creating a segregated caste of students. There will be a school system that provides lower standards for those who are less able or English-challenged and those that possess the money and upbringing to attend higher-ranked schools.

It is also not too difficult to imagine a state, like California, that has economic problems, as it is may actually become bankrupt, without ever achieving the very attainable goal of a solid education for each citizen. The domino or snowball effect of the testing aftermath could flow out to the undergraduate schools, and, eventually, to the workforce. If these students cannot find economically sustainable work, the very economy (housing, retail, service industry) could collapse.

There is a need to measure a student's progress and proficiency. The answer could be to use a flexible and interactive examination tool that constructively re-evaluates a student's progress. This type of testing would drive the students curriculum and could be used by the student and teacher to determine if higher education or vocational trainer would be suitable to meet their needs. It is time to devise a school program that is both academically and vocationally proficient in meeting the needs of their students.

Works Cited

Betts, Julian R. and Danenberg, Anne. "School Accountability in California

An Early Evaluation." The Brookings Institution (00) -4.

Digitale, Robert "Public Education Learning New Set of ABCs." Press Democrat

1 August 00 1-.

Galley, Michelle. "More Errors are Seen in the Scoring of Tests"." Education Week (00) 1

Irving, Carl "Drive for Standardized High School Testing." California Policy Center May 16

1-5.

"Making the Grade Video Examining the Failures of Standardized Testing."

Discovery Times Channel. Sep. 00 http//biz.yahoo.com/prnews/0086/dctu041_1.html.

Walsh, Mark. "Marketing to the Test." Education Week (00) .

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