Standardized Testing In Texas
English 1301
April 23, 2013
Standardized Testing in Texas
The first standardized test was developed in France nearly 100 years ago by a psychologist named Alfred Binet. Binet’s test focused on language skills, judgment, comprehension, reasoning and memory, and was used to determine which students would succeed in regular classes and which needed special attention (Lefton). Binet’s test was successful in the Parisian school system and generated a lot of interest in America. An American psychologist named Lewis Terman translated Binet’s test into English and created the intelligence quotient (IQ) test which remains in use today. (“Lewis Terman and IQ”). Standardized tests have evolved over the years and are used to determine …show more content…
In doing so it hurts individual student’s education and it restricts the overall learning environment. Due to the pressure on teachers to prepare students for the STAAR or TAKS they may feel forced to “teach to the test.” Teachers may feel they are precluded from teaching their academic subjects outside of the narrow framework dictated by the standardized tests. Additionally, “teaching to the test” creates stress on both the teacher and the student to meet expected scores on the test. Sandy Kress, a Texas lawyer and former aide to President Bush aide, helped write the No Child Left Behind Act. Last week Kress stated in an interview “You’ve got drilling and benchmark testing every six weeks. Clearly, there’s a lot of over-testing in a lot of places. It’s just awful, and it draws really negative reactions from parents, teachers and communities. Tests weren’t intended to be treated that way” (“Bush, Obama focus on standardized testing leads to ‘opt-out’ parents’ movement”). Fortunately, recent actions in Texas have attempted to improve the testing environment by reducing the number of required tests each student must take. In March 2013 a bill was introduced in the Texas Senate to reduce the number of required annual standardized tests from 15 per student to five exams in core subjects (“Standardized Testing Reduced for Testing …show more content…
They suggest that standardized testing holds teachers accountable for doing their jobs and for teaching their subjects within a common framework of guidelines. They argue that standardized testing normalizes comparison of students between districts. Similarly they believe that standardized testing creates an environment of objective evaluation of students’ abilities and reduces the subjectivity of individual teachers’ grading of their students. Finally, proponents suggest that standardized testing simplifies the collection of data that can be used to focus on districts that might require special needs-based attention due to socio-economic or other environmental
April 23, 2013
Standardized Testing in Texas
The first standardized test was developed in France nearly 100 years ago by a psychologist named Alfred Binet. Binet’s test focused on language skills, judgment, comprehension, reasoning and memory, and was used to determine which students would succeed in regular classes and which needed special attention (Lefton). Binet’s test was successful in the Parisian school system and generated a lot of interest in America. An American psychologist named Lewis Terman translated Binet’s test into English and created the intelligence quotient (IQ) test which remains in use today. (“Lewis Terman and IQ”). Standardized tests have evolved over the years and are used to determine …show more content…
In doing so it hurts individual student’s education and it restricts the overall learning environment. Due to the pressure on teachers to prepare students for the STAAR or TAKS they may feel forced to “teach to the test.” Teachers may feel they are precluded from teaching their academic subjects outside of the narrow framework dictated by the standardized tests. Additionally, “teaching to the test” creates stress on both the teacher and the student to meet expected scores on the test. Sandy Kress, a Texas lawyer and former aide to President Bush aide, helped write the No Child Left Behind Act. Last week Kress stated in an interview “You’ve got drilling and benchmark testing every six weeks. Clearly, there’s a lot of over-testing in a lot of places. It’s just awful, and it draws really negative reactions from parents, teachers and communities. Tests weren’t intended to be treated that way” (“Bush, Obama focus on standardized testing leads to ‘opt-out’ parents’ movement”). Fortunately, recent actions in Texas have attempted to improve the testing environment by reducing the number of required tests each student must take. In March 2013 a bill was introduced in the Texas Senate to reduce the number of required annual standardized tests from 15 per student to five exams in core subjects (“Standardized Testing Reduced for Testing …show more content…
They suggest that standardized testing holds teachers accountable for doing their jobs and for teaching their subjects within a common framework of guidelines. They argue that standardized testing normalizes comparison of students between districts. Similarly they believe that standardized testing creates an environment of objective evaluation of students’ abilities and reduces the subjectivity of individual teachers’ grading of their students. Finally, proponents suggest that standardized testing simplifies the collection of data that can be used to focus on districts that might require special needs-based attention due to socio-economic or other environmental