Assessment: Ready for the Big One?

Does it seem that just about every time you turn around, it’s time for testing again? If so, you’re not alone. The recent emphasis on standards-based education reform has meant more standardized tests being administered throughout the United States. Over 48 states now administer statewide tests, and 36 publish results from individual schools.

Why the increase in recent years? A major factor is that similar test results reported from countries throughout the world have often shown U.S. students lagging behind their foreign peers. Intensive media coverage of these differences has fueled a national paranoia, resulting in the public’s demand for national educational reform.

According to "Quality Counts ’99," a recent report by Education Week, "After years of exhorting and cajoling schools to improve, policymakers have decided to get tough." Some states are rewarding results and punishing failure in hopes of assuring that children learn.

One-third of the states that test have the power to close or take over failing schools. Over one-quarter of the states give extra funding to schools based on their performance. Clearly, the stakes are high.

Everyone’s in the hot seat

Whenever test results are published, everyone takes a turn in the hot seat – from kids, to parents, to teachers, to national and state legislators, and even the President. Many candidates have publicly identified school reform as one of their highest priorities, staking their careers on the changes they promise to make.

The end result of this mounting public attention is increased scrutiny on school, teacher, and student performance – because ultimately, it is in classrooms where results are measured. Every classroom’s scores are part of the bottom line.

How long the standards and assessment movement will endure is a subject of debate. According to Lorraine M. McDonnell of the National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing, "Public opinion appears stable – strongly favoring current standards and assessment policies while seeming to acknowledge their shortcomings and consequences."

Many states now test at several points in a student’s career: at least once at the end of elementary school, again in middle school, and finally, sometime before the end of high school. State testing varies in its quality. While much of the test material is based on well-defined state standards, a great deal may not be.

Teachers often have strong feelings about standardized tests. The topics heard hotly debated among teachers include the following: Are the tests really necessary? Will the tests have an impact on school reform? Most importantly, Do these tests help our children?

Still, standardized tests remain a fact of teaching life, and for that reason, most teachers simply want to know how to help students do the best they can, without having to spend valuable classroom time "teaching to the test."

Test readiness – what to do

Preparing students for standardized testing isn’t a quick fix, but rather an ongoing training process that should take place throughout the year. To succeed on any Big Test – from standard achievement tests to the SAT – your students need to start test preparation well in advance and keep their skills well honed.

Try these suggestions to help students feel more confident about any test situation.

Authors Pam Elder and Laurie Blass are Managing Partners at HEURISTIX, a Corte Madera, California, instructional design firm that develops multimedia content and online courseware for a variety of publishers and organizations.

Additional Resources

Education Week, "Quality Counts ‘99"
(http://www.edweek.org/sreports/qc99/exsum.htm)

National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing
(http://www.cse.ucla.edu/)

Family Education Network, "A Parent's Guide to Standardized Tests"
(http://familyeducation.com/topic/front/0,1156,1-9028,00.html)

Family Education Network, "The State of Student Testing"
(http://familyeducation.com/article/0,1120,24-4669-1,00.html)