When it comes to the classroom I'm not sure whether I want them included or not. I can see how they might be a positive thing, but of course with positives there are always negatives. So this is how I look at it:
Pros of standardized tests:
- all students receive the same test
- easy to "grade" or compare students when they are all assessed on the same material
- certain ones might prepare you for harder standardized tests in the future, for example if you are going to Medical School you will take a lot of huge exams in your future and will need to know how to "attack" them.
- easy to administer and track results by computer
- instigator of change (but can also be a bad thing) in school systems
- shows growth or opposite from year to year
- accountability (high expectations) of students
Cons of standardized tests:
- biased towards certain classes and races
- test anxiety for some students
- questions are wordy and long
- science often doesn't really test science, but the students reading ability and problem solving instead
- time consuming for person giving/monitoring the test and student taking the test
- names or words students might not know in the questions
- can affect how the teacher teaches
- teacher may teach students in a way that they do better on the test, instead of a way that helps them learn better
- Language barriers
Of course I'm sure there are many more pros and cons, but those are good enough for now. I think standardized tests should be used in the classroom when APPROPRIATE. This could mean when a teacher or district needs to know how ALL of their students are doing in a certain subject area. Using them over and over again does not make sense to me, and I think over testing students is possible. I also think that they should NOT be used to gage how the teacher is doing. I do not think it is fair to assess a teacher's skills by using standardized test scores. Some students are just not good at taking tests, or possibly have test anxiety. Things like this would not be the teacher's fault, and therefore it should not affect his or her status as an educator. I also do not think the test scores should be taken so seriously when studying how different races did compared to each other. Or heck maybe even if people do look at scores that way and see that a certain race scores significantly lower than the other ones they should change the questions, or format the test differently in some way. But I'm assuming that would be too much to ask of the great creators who designed the test. So overall, I think these tests should be used when they are being used for the right purposes, but not overly in order to protect our society from becoming too dependent on the scores they produce.
PS. In my personal opinion I HATE standardized tests, mostly because I suck at taking them, but I think they are awful and I am so glad I do not have to take them anymore. Even though they do have some positive value in the classroom, I will still continue to hate them until something is done differently with them. And if I have to administer an ITBS like test in the future I might die. Kidding, but really...they are not fun, nor are we friends. :)
