Tests

Standardized tests have multiplied like rabbits in the last ten years or so. These tests compare the performance of same-age students. They show whether or not a student is keeping up with age-mates in various academic areas. Standardized tests are useful up to a point. The talents and weaknesses of students become clearly visible on a graph, and that information can be important for future educational planning. Special talents can be further developed and weaknesses remediated. The tests also help teachers and administrators improve instruction. In addition, testing programs can motivate students to study harder.

On the other hand, standardized testing can actively interfere with the educational process. Such testing involves the unreal expectation that all children develop in the same ways at the same rate. Children who fail to achieve high scores can easily conclude that they are not very smart and lose their motivation. Or, parents and teachers can come to regard the child as incapable and communicate their attitudes to the child in many subtle ways. Children who regard themselves as failures have a mountain of discouragement to climb every time they attempt an academic task.

Another problem with standardized tests is that numerous talents, such as artistic, athletic, or mechanical ability, creativity, or social sensitivity aren't tested. Thus the student who excels in ways that don't appear on the tests may receive little encouragement for developing those talents. Undeveloped talents become a loss, not only for the individual, but for the whole community.

My college psychology professor taught that IQ is what the IQ tests test. Now I understand how right he was. IQ isn't the same as native intelligence. IQ or any other test only uses a small sample of the person's total capabilities. It's not possible to test the total response levels of a human person. A student's parent recently began talking about her daughter's IQ. I insisted that she say tested IQ. IQ numbers can change significantly as a student matures.

Under some conditions standardized tests yield invalid results. For example, students who haven't studied the same curriculum as the children in the control group haven't had the same opportunity to learn. Likewise, children who haven't had as much time to learn, or who speak a foreign language at home are at a disadvantage in comparison to students who have had more time or who speak English as a native language. The results of such comparisons are meaningless. The scores look very official and important, but they fail to capture the true capabilities of the student.

Standardized testing is a fact of life today. No student can avoid it entirely. It is vitally important to remember, though, that every student is an infinitely valuable human person with an eternal destiny. The only meaningful use of test scores is to help each student develop all the talent necessary to achieve that destiny.

Mary Sue Laing, Resource Teacher, St. Ambrose School newskill7@msn.com

Mary Sue Laing, M.Ed.
Resource Teacher, St. Ambrose School
newskill7@msn.com

by Mary Sue Laing, M. Ed., New Skill, Inc. Academic Tutor